Patrick Henry rallies to beat Coronado in girls soccer

Last season, Patrick Henry High School’s girls soccer program captured its first-ever CIF San Diego Section Division 1 title.

Returning a bevy of key starters for the 2025-2026 season, expectations for this year’s edition of the Patriots were sky high.

On Thursday night, they continued to meet — if not exceed — those expectations. The Patriots’ 3-1 win over Western League foe Coronado improved Henry to 7-2-1.

“Our job is to win the week, and that right there was winning the week,” said Patrick Henry coach Jason Renfro.

For the first 30 minutes of Thursday night’s match, Patrick was in complete control. She logged shots on goal in the 13th, 20th, and 23rd minutes while also earning five corner kicks and two free kicks.

Despite the dominant early showing, Coronado would be the one to draw first blood.

In the 29th minute, Sydney Dunn picked a steal from 21 yards outside of the goal. She dished to Breck Dunn, who buried a shot into the top-left corner, giving Coronado the 1-0 lead.

“That’s just the game of soccer. You dominate, dominate, dominate and then they get one chance and score and we found ourselves down early,” Renfro said.

Henry found the equalizer just before halftime. In the 38th minute, Aleda Urbina converted from short range after Islanders goalkeeper Haleigh Steele lost control of the ball following a diving save attempt.

“Getting that goal before the half certainly gave us a lift,” Renfro said.

Patrick Henry continued to push numbers forward and test the Islanders’ back line in the second half. While the Islanders’ defense managed to weather the storm in the first, they’d be unable to in the second.

In the 57th minute, Emma Cunningham drove down the far wing. The junior then rifled a cross towards the near post, where a cutting Annabel Grentz headed it into the bottom-right corner, handing the Patriots the 2-1 advantage.

“Emma played a perfect ball to where I didn’t even have to move, and I just tapped it in,” said Grentz. “That’s just a typical Emma play. She delivers beautiful balls every time. She’s one of my favorite 10s I’ve ever played with.”

Just four minutes later, Henry struck again. From 22 yards out, Keira Arce found Jasmine Singletary forward in space. The junior pivoted and fired a shot from 17 yards out and into the left corner of the net, making it a 3-1 game and putting the match on ice.

“Coronado is never an easy field for us. It’s either foggy, stormy, or wet,” Renfro said. “So to get this win here, it’s big for us.”