The Coronado boys lacrosse team has faced some top-notch competition to start the 2009 season.

And the Islanders keep coming out on top.

On Wednesday night, senior middie Jackson Cusick registered a game-high three points on two goals and an assist to lead No. 2 Coronado to a 7-5 victory over No. 9 La Costa Canyon in a CIF-San Diego Section game.

Junior attackman Eddie Vita added a pair of goals, junior middie Kodie Englehart finished with a goal and an assist and sophomore Kyle Runyon dished two assists to help the Islanders (3-0) stay unbeaten.

Senior attackman Bobby Braun and senior middie Ian McRae had one goal apiece to round out the scoring for Coronado. Defensively, junior goalie Peter Zeller saved eight shots for the Islanders, who have opened the season with victories over three Top 25 opponents.

Coronado has now downed No. 15 De La Salle, the top-ranked team from the North Coast Section, No. 8 St. Ignatius Prep, the top-ranked team from the Central Coast Section, and La Costa Canyon, the preseason No. 1 from the San Diego Section.

In a losing effort, Timmy Andrews scored a team-high two goals, and Alex Pardieu, T.C. Whaley and Connor Garrett all scored once for La Costa Canyon (1-2), which dropped its second straight.

In a rematch of last year’s San Diego Section title game, La Costa Canyon took an early 2-0 lead, but Coronado answered with a seven-goal run to take control. The Islanders took a 7-2 lead after Vita scored with 5:45 to play in the third quarter.

La Costa Canyon came back to make a game of it, closing within two goals after Garrett scored with 10:44 to play in regulation. But that was as close as the Mavericks could get.

“It’s a great start,” Cusick said. “We’re just taking it one game at a time, and it’s working out for us. We haven’t been playing our best, but we’ve been going hard the whole game, getting after ground balls.”