SD Prep Sports

SD Prep Sports: Roller Hockey

2005-06 CIF/Metro Conference

Otay Ranch Mustangs jump-start breakout season

By Phillip Brents

Otay Ranch Mustangs roller hockey coach Lyn Dyer knew he had something special to work with this season from the Mustangs’ very first game — a 3-2 victory against the 2004-05 Kiwanis Cup semifinalist Vista Panthers. North County teams last year beat their southern counterparts for the most part like a drum, holding a 38-8-2 edge in inter-league play.

But the 2005-06 Mustangs were the better team from the opening face-off and it showed in a 3-2 victory. Otay Ranch played a complete game — offensively, defensively and between the pipes. It was heartening to see a South County team — and only a second-year one, at that — take on a North County squad, play toe-to-toe and come out victorious.

The Mustangs kept rolling from there, amassing a South County-best 6-1 record prior to the holiday break.

“We’ve basically got everyone back from last year, plus a few additions which should help us out. The returning guys have a year of experience. The biggest difference for us from last year to this year is that our less experienced guys last year are more experienced now. We have a lot more experience throughout the lineup,” Dyer said. “Our goal is to win the south division and go a little farther in the playoffs. I feel we’ll give these North County teams a tough time.”

This season’s team is once again led by Adrian Rodriguez, a national-caliber skater who led the conference in scoring last season with 62 goals and 101 points. Also back to terrorize opposing netminders this season are Matt Naferrete and Ricky Gutierrez. Other top returners who have benefited from a year of experience include defenseman Angelo Seganti and goaltender Victor Holland, who has quietly developed into one of the conference’s strongest netminders.

With the addition of incoming ice hockey players Jonthan Reyes and Zack Johnson, along with longtime youth roller hockey standout Dylan Mahr, Rodriguez no longer seems burdened with carrying the team on his very strong shoulders. The Mustangs now have the ability to strike from anywhere on the floor and on any line.

In what was a heady preview of things to come, Otay Ranch defeated Vista without Rodriguez scoring a goal. Such would have been unthinkable last season.

But this is this season. And this year’s team appears ready to rewrite the one-year- old school record book, starting with the record for most wins in one season (14).

In seven games, the Mustangs had outscored their opponents 67-12.

The Mustangs finished as the only South County-based team to record a victory (actually two) in inter-league games this season against the stronger North County League teams. Besides the win against Vista, Otay Ranch skated to a 4-2 victory against West Hills on Dec. 12 after absorbing an 8-3 loss against two-time defending conference champion Scripps Ranch on Dec. 7.
Otay Ranch skated into the holiday break with confidence-building victories against the two defending South County league champions: Mar Vista (South Bay League) and Bonita Vista (Mesa League).

Mar Vista had hung 12-6 and 12-2 defeats on Otay Ranch last season but the Mustangs built an early 2-0 lead in the Dec. 14 match-up pitting the area’s top two roller hockey squads. The Mariners twice rallied from two-goal deficits to tie the game but each time Otay Ranch roared with a spirited comeback of its own.

The Mustangs won the game in dramatic fashion with a pair of goals in the final 1:55, including an “insurance” goal with one second left on the scoreboard clock.

Reyes, who stands in as one of the shortest players in the conference but who may possess unmatched breakaway speed, tallied the game’s final two goals after Mar Vista’s Jeremy Tanaka had tied the game at 4-4 with 2:25 left.
But just 30 seconds later, Reyes — taking a feed from Rodriguez (four assists) — went top shelf with the game-winner and added another goal on a breakaway just before time expired.

Holland, who finished the game with 16 saves, unselfishly gave the credit for the amazing 6-4 win to his teammates. “They played very well in front of me,” he said.

After the emotionally satisfying win against the defending South Bay League champion Mariners, Otay Ranch defeated Bonita Vista by an equally satisfying 9-1 score as six different players scored goals. As a matter of comparison, the Barons bested the Mustangs 3-1 last season.

Reyes, who has quickly become one of the conference’s most exciting players to watch, led the charge with three goals and two assists against Bonita Vista.

How far can Otay Ranch take it this season? The Mustangs will not have long to test themselves again against Mar Vista, meeting the Mariners in an even higher stakes game on Jan. 10 that could decide the outcome of this year’s South Bay League championship. The Mustangs will test resident league power Hilltop twice after play resumes following the holiday break, as well as La Jolla Country Day, which returns to South Bay League play after a one-year absence while playing in the North County League.

The 2006 Kiwanis Cup playoffs start in late February. Otay Ranch finished 1-1 in playoff action last season, handing Eastlake an overtime defeat.

Otay Ranch 19, Chula Vista 0
Dec. 1 at Skate San Diego: Twelve players picked up either a goal or an assist, with 11 players scoring at least one goal in the game, as the Mustangs improved to 2-0 on the season. Matt Nafarette led the Mustangs with three goals and one assist while Dylan Mahr scored three goals.

Otay Ranch 18, Sweetwater 1
Dec. 6 at Castle Park High School: Rodriguez paced the Mustangs with a goal and six assists while Reyes tallied four goals and one assist and Ricky Gutierrez scored four goals. Matt Nafarrete added two goals and two assists while Dylan Mahr contributed three assists. Otay Ranch expanded on a 6-0 first-period lead with eight unanswered goals in the second period.

Scripps Ranch 8, Otay Ranch 3
Dec. 7 at Skate San Diego: Ryan Knight (two goals, three assists) and Matt Comrie (three goals, one assist) were the high-point men for the two-time defending Kiwanis Cup champion Falcons, who improved to 4-0 with the non-league victory. Scripps Ranch led 4-1 after the first period and 6-2 entering the final stanza in a battle of early season unbeaten teams. Otay Ranch (3-1) received a pair of goals from Adrian Rodriguez in the loss.

Otay Ranch 4, West Hills 2
Dec. 12 at Skate San Diego: The Mustangs scored two short-handed goals to lead 3-0 to hand the Wolf Pack its first loss on the season after a 4-0 start.

Otay Ranch 9, Bonita Vista 1
Dec. 15 at Castle Park High School: Jonthan Reyes continued his amazing scoring ability with three goals and two assists while Adrian Rodriguez racked up one goal and three assists. Dylan Mahr scored twice while Zack Johnson had a goal and assist. The Mustangs led 3-1 after the first period but put the game away with four unanswered goals in the second period while adding two more goals in the final stanza to close the game with six consecutive goals.

CIF/Metro Conference Game Summaries

San Diego Jewish Academy 10, Sweetwater 2
Nov. 28 at Skate San Diego: Johnny Simkin scored five goals and one assist and Mikael Levin added six points on one goal and five assists to lead the Lions to the conference’s first win of the season. Aaron Shinoff scored the season’s first goal at the 1:34 mark of the first period, assisted by Levin. Gabe Nussbaum scored twice for SDJA, which put the game out of reach with five third-period goals. Robert Felizardo scored both Sweetwsater goals.

Scripps Ranch 6, Bonita Vista 1
Nov. 28 at Skate San Diego: Ryan Knight scored the game’s opening three goals, all assisted by Matt Comrie to lead the defending Kiwanis Cup champion Falcons. Eric Brody, Josh Lopez and Chad Ruhwedel also scored for Scripps Ranch, which padded a 2-0 first-period lead with a goal in the second period and three more in the final stanza after the Barons’ Daniel Ruelas had made it a 3-1 game.

Otay Ranch 3, Vista 2
Nov. 28 at Skate San Diego: Matt Nafarrete, Zack Johnson and Johnathan Reyes each scored single goals to lift the Mustangs past the Panthers, a semifinalist in last season’s Kiwanis Cup championship playoffs. Adrian Rodriguez, last season’s conference scoring leader, set up the game’s first goal. After the Panthers tied the game, Otay Ranch broke free with unanswered goals by Johnson and Reyes, both newcomers to the team with ice hockey experience. Victor Holland was steady between the pipes, holding hard-charging Vista scoreless for a span of 23:53.

Poway 10, Hilltop 0
Nov. 28 at Skate San Diego: Stephan Lockwood led the Kiwanis Cup finalist Titans with two goals and three assists while teammate Matt Pecenco added two goals and two assists. A total of 10 Poway players scored at least a point in the contest. The Titans led 4-0 after the first period and 7-0 entering the final frame.

Rancho Bernardo 9, Eastlake 1
Nov. 29 at Skate San Diego: Adam Child scored four goals and Andy Meisner added three assists to lead the Broncos, who opened up leads of 4-0 and 7-0 through the opening two periods. Rancho Bernardo also received two goals from Kory Grahl and a goal and assist from Rory Hansen. Jonathon Williams got Eastlake’s lone goal, assisted by Nathan Scharmann.

Westview 28, Castle Park 0
Nov. 29 at Skate San Diego: Shane Clements tallied a game-high seven points on five goals and two assists while Jon Cohen racked up six points on three goals and three assists,Ryan Aguirre contributed four goals and two assists and Mike Kiraly added four goals and one assist for the Wolverines, who led 8-0 after the first period. Seven Westview players ended the game with at least three goals as Josh Dykman (three goals, two assists), Leo Scheiler (three goals, one assist) and Drew Ness (three goals) also recorded hat tricks. Andy Wiens scored twice for the Wolverines, who scored 11 times in the second period.

Mar Vista 15, Chula Vista 0
Nov. 29 at Castle Park HS: Ian Nicklen (nine goals, two assists) and Jeremy Tanaka (three goals, eight assists) each scored 11 points to lead the defending South Bay League champion Mariners. Shan Stenvall, Marc Rodriguez and Mike Ellison were each credited with single goals for Mar Vista, which scored five goals in each period.

La Jolla 19, Southwest 1
Nov. 29 at Castle Park HS: Johnny Noris was credited with four goals and three assists while John Gibson was credited with three goals and three assists, Gabe Rudolph with three goals and two assists , Natalie Noris with a goal and four assists and Matt Cox with three goals as the Vikings opened the season with a victory.

Scripps Ranch 18, Eastlake 0
Nov. 30 at Skate San Diego: Ryan Knight collected eight points on five goals and three assists while Matt Comrie added four goals and two assists as the Falcons skated to a 2-0 start. Eric Brody scored a hat trick and Brent Friedman was credited with two goals as Scripps Ranch faced off the season with an imposing 24-1 goal-differential. Eastlake dropped to 0-2 after being outscored 27-1 in two starts.

Vista 12, Bonita Vista 1
Nov. 30 at Skate San Diego: Zach Cameron led the Panthers (1-1) with four goals while Guy Lemieux and Andrew Peattie each contributed hat tricks. Vista led 8-0 in the game before Bonita Vista (0-2) got on the scoreboard courtesy of a goal by Steven Micaleff, assisted by Blake Tanner.

West Hills 10, La Jolla 3
Nov. 30 at Skate San Diego: Johnny Baxter scored the first goal and first hat trick in West Hills’ first-ever CIF-sanctioned game as the Wolf Pack opened up a 9-0 lead in downing the Vikings, a playoff qualifier a year ago. The win ran West Hills’ fledgling Metro Conference record to 2-0 after a prior forfeit win against Montgomery. Travis Peters and Andrew Delgadillo each scored two goals and one assist for West Hills, which also received a pair of goals off the stick of Keith Gurr. Brian Cordes started in net for the Wolf Pack and was relieved by Cameron McIntyre. Johnny Noris scored twice for La Jolla (1-1), which received two assists from Daniel Bogle.

Mar Vista 13, Bonita Vista 2
Dec. 7 at Skate San Diego: Ian Nicklen led the Mariners with four goals and five assists while Jeremy Tanaka contributed three goals and three assists as Mar Vista built an 11-0 lead in the game pitting last season’s South Bay League and Mesa League champions. The Mariners, who put the game away with six second-period goals after skating to a 4-0 first-period lead, improved to 2-2 with the win while the Barons remained winless at 0-4.

Scripps Ranch 8, Otay Ranch 3
Dec. 7 at Skate San Diego: Ryan Knight (two goals, three assists) and Matt Comrie (three goals, one assist) were the high-point men for the two-time defending Kiwanis Cup champion Falcons, who improved to 4-0 with the non-league victory. Scripps Ranch led 4-1 after the first period and 6-2 entering the final stanza in a battle of early season unbeatens. Otay Ranch (3-1) received a pair of goals from Adrian Rodriguez in the loss.

Otay Ranch 18, Sweetwater 1
Dec. 6 at Castle Park High School: Adrian Rodriguez paced the Mustangs with a goal and six assists while Johnathan Reyes tallied four goals and one assist and Ricky Gutierrez scored four goals. Matt Nafarrete aded two goals and two assists while Dylan Mahr contributed three assists.

Rancho Bernardo 4, Mar Vista 3
Dec. 5 at Skate San Diego: Kory Grahl scored twice as the Broncos opened up a 3-0 lead. Ian Nicklen led the Mariners with a pair of goals.

Notepad
West Hills improved to 4-0 in its first-ever CIF/Metro Conference season by turning back the San Diego Jewish Academy, 7-5, on Dec. 7. Johnny Baxter led the Wolf Pack with four goals while teammates Andrew Delgadillo (two goals, two assists) and Travis Peters (one goal, three assists) also turned in four-point efforts. The game was tied 3-3 entering the final period before West Hills out-scored the Lions 4-2 in the frame to maintain its perfect start.