SD Prep Sports:

2006-07 Winter Sports
Metro Conference

Girls Water Polo

Metro qualifies three teams for CIF playoffs
Three Metro Conference teams qualified for this year’s San Diego Section girls water polo playoffs. Mesa League co-champions Bonita Vista and Otay Ranch qualified in the Division I field while South Bay League champion Mar Vista qualified in the Division II field.

The Division II playoffs were scheduled to start Wednesday while Division I teams were to open first round play on Thursday.

The quarterfinal round for both divisions will be held Saturday at La Jolla High School, with semifinals following Feb. 20 (Division II) and Feb. 21 (Division I). The divisional championship games are scheduled Feb. 24, also at La Jolla High School.

All three South County teams qualified for the playoffs by winning league titles.

Otay Ranch (19-7) earned the 15th seed and was scheduled to play at second-seeded Carlsbad (21-6) while Bonita Vista (11-13) received the 16th seed and was to engage top-seeded Poway (26-3).

Bonita Vista and Otay Ranch shared the Mesa League title with 5-1 league records. Carlsbad finished as the Avocado League champion while Poway won the Palomar League title.

The Bonita Vista-Poway winner will play either ninth-seeded West Hills (20-9) or eighth-seeded Rancho Buena Vista (17-11) in Saturday’s quarterfinals.

The Otay Ranch-Carlsbad winner advances against either seventh-seeded Grossmont (20-8) or 10th-seeded Torrey Pines (13-12) in Saturday’s quarterfinals.

Mar Vista finished 6-0 in South Bay League competition, 11-8 overall, to draw No. 1 Coronado (22-6) in opening-round play.
The Islanders tied for the Western League championship with Bishop’s, each with 11-1 records.

Coronado advanced to Saturdays’ quarterfinals against Valhalla (14-15) with a 23-2 victory.

Division I
First Round/Thursday, Feb. 15
(16) Bonita Vista (5-1, 11-13) at (1) Poway (10-0, 26-3)
(9) West Hills (6-2, 20-9) at (8) Rancho Buena Vista (4-6, 17-11)
(12) Scripps Ranch (4-8, 8-15) at (5) La Costa Canyon (4-6, 18-8)
(13) El Camino (3-7, 12-16) at (4) Rancho Bernardo (8-2, 22-6)
(14) Westview (0-10, 10-15) at (3) Vista (8-2, 20-8)
(6) Fallbrook (5-5, 12-16) at (11) Granite Hills (10-0, 17-11)
(10) Torrey Pines (5-5, 13-12) at (7) Grossmont (8-0, 20-8)
(15) Otay Ranch (5-1, 17-7) at (2) Carlsbad (10-0, 21-6)

Division II
First Round/Wednesday, Feb. 14
(1) Coronado (11-1, 23-6) 23, (16) Mar Vista (6-0, 11-9) 2
(8) Valhalla (8-2, 14-15) 9, (9) El Capitan (4-4, 16-12-2) 7
(5) Mt. Carmel (3-7, 14-15) 16, (12) Point Loma (11-1, 18-8) 9
(4) University City (5-7, 13-16) 16, (13) Mission Bay (5-6, 9-14) 5
(3) La Jolla (8-4, 18-10) 10, (14) Ramona (6-6, 11-8) 2
(6) Cathedral Catholic (3-9, 11-17) 10, (11) Serra (11-1, 17-8) 1
(7) Valley Center (12-0, 25-6) 8, (10) Steele Canyon (5-5, 14-15) 4
(2) Bishop's (11-1, 26-2) 21, (15) Clairemont (6-6, 8-15) 1

Mustangs, Barons share 2006-07 Mesa League title
Posted Feb. 15, 2007
Metro Conference girls water polo just added a new rivalry: Bonita Vista vs. Otay Ranch. The Mesa League added co-champions this season: Bonita Vista and Otay Ranch.

Otay Ranch defeated defending league champion Bonita Vista, 6-5, last Saturday in a showdown contest at the Parkway pool to tie the Barons with a 5-1 league record, thus giving each team a share of this year’s Mesa League championship.

Mustangs coach Ernie Medina would likely rather refer to the game as a showcase effort by his team. “The girls played to their potential and discovered what they could do by doing that,” he said.

The Mustangs, who posted a lot of achievements this season, concluded a record-setting regular season 19-7 overall.
The teams appeared to save the best for last.

Bonita Vista, which defeated Otay Ranch, 9-8, the previous Tuesday, led 3-2 at halftime but goals by Elyse Dayrit and Roni Coffer pulled the Mustangs ahead 4-3 in the third quarter. It was Bonita Vista’s turn to take the lead at 5-4 on a huge goal by Carly Hakes. Christina Eaton scored to deadlock the contest at five goals apiece on a power play with 2:30 remaining in regulation play and later supplied what proved to be the game-winner with 1:43 left.

After that, Otay Ranch goalie Carolyn Lechner preserved the victory with two saves as Bonita Vista’s offense made a last gasp effort in the exciting, back-and-forth contest.

After Lechner’s final save as the seconds ticked down, Medina and assistant coach Chris Moselle began jumping up and down in near uncontrollable excitement by the team’s bench as players began to gather for a group hug in front of the Otay Ranch cage.

A few minutes later, after the teams completed their ceremonial post-game handshakes, it was time for the two Mustang coaches to take a ceremonial dip into the pool with their victorious team.

Then it was off to Medina’s house for a party and moustache-shaving event. Medina said he had not shaved that area for 25 years, though he had kept his rather bushy goatee in well-groomed condition.

It came off with clippers — and, to be sure, squeals from team members.

“Time management,” Medina said in detailing his team’s co-championship-clinching win. “We controlled our kickouts. Our goalie stepped up. We got an MVP player in Roni Coffer.”

Coffer, who shattered school scoring records this season, finished the game with two goals, one assist, two ejections drawn and three steals. Co-captains Dayrit and Eaton matched Coffer’s two goals while each adding two steals. Lechner finished the contest with 10 saves.

For the Barons, who finished the season 11-13 overall, Wesley Maddocks tied the game early at 1-1 while Chelsea Prestidge gave them a halftime lead. Hakes led Bonita Vista with two goals.

Bonita Vista coach Antonio Gallardo called the contest an “exciting game.” He had no choice but to say that as the score remained in the balance until the final seconds.

“I think the girls did a pretty good job considering we only have four returning girls from last year,” Gallardo said. “When we started this season, it was basically a new team. We knew this game was going to be tough. You win some and you lose some in tough games like that. Otay Ranch worked hard. They definitely earned their share of the banner.”

As for the new-found rivalry, Gallardo said the season-ending loss should fuel the competitive spirit of his team.

“I hope my girls use this as momentum for next year,” the BV coach said. “They’re excited to play them again. It sure gives us another rivalry. Before Otay Ranch came into the league, our big rival was Eastlake. (The Mustangs) have made the league more competitive.”

Notepad
•Coffer entered the playoffs with 121 goals, 111 steals and 20 assists. She had four goals, four steals, seven ejections drawn and one five-meter drawn in the Mustangs’ 7-3 victory against Eastlake on Feb. 8.

•Dayrit had 68 goals and 69 steals while Eaton had 69 goals, 10 assists and 91 steals. Dayrit had three goals and five steals in the win against Eastlake while Rachael Medina had three steals and one assist.

•Bonita Vista tuned up for last Saturday’s climactic championship game with a 16-2 victory against Chula Vista on Feb. 8.

Bonita Vista cuts short Otay Ranch rally, wins 9-8
Posted Feb. 8, 2007
Otay Ranch’s Roni Coffer is headed for a record-setting season, not only in the Mustangs’ official girls water polo record book but also in the San Diego Section record book.

The Bonita Vista Barons are headed for at least a Mesa League co-championship, however, after downing Coffer’s Mustangs, 9-8, in a game that saw the decibels rising from the teams’ respective cheer sections as the temperatures plummeted and fog began to roll in late Tuesday afternoon at the Loma Verde pool.
Coffer left her mark in the game with four goals while drawing eight ejections and making four steals. The eight ejections drawn are worthy of CIF consideration, according to Otay Ranch coach Ernie Medina.

But it wasn’t enough against a Bonita Vista team that appears to be peaking at the right time of the season. The Barons fed off not only the energy they generated themselves in the pool but also off the energy generated by the gathering of very vocal fans.

“We’ve never really had a big cheering section,” BV head coach Antonio Gallardo said. “But Otay Ranch and Eastlake have always brought huge cheering sections. It makes the game more exciting. It fires up the team.”

The Barons, who improved to 4-0 in league play, were on fire to start the game, no question.

After Coffer gave the Mustangs (3-1, 17-7) a 1-0 lead just 18 seconds into the game, Bonita Vista responded with two quick goals to take a 2-1 lead. Wesley Maddocks tied the game and then Carly Hakes put the defending league champions up by a goal.

Otay Ranch twice tied the game — at 2-2 and 3-3 — but Bonita Vista owned a 4-3 edge after the conclusion of the opening period. Hakes had two goals in the period while teammate Sara Skinker also scored.

Hakes scored again to open the second period but the Mustangs closed to within a goal at 5-4 on Coffer’s second goal of the contest, a touch-in at the far post after a lob shot had initially landed just inches wide of the post.

Otay Ranch had a golden opportunity to tie the game for a third time when handed a power-play opportunity on a Bonita Vista foul ejection. However, the Mustangs could not take advantage — a familiar circumstance that would haunt them throughout the rest of the game — and the Barons promptly reeled off two unanswered goals to go up 7-4 at halftime.

The Mustangs never really were able to recover from that three-goal deficit, Medina said.

“The bottom line is that we started slow,” the Otay Ranch coach said. “They scored a couple quick ejection goals. We couldn’t take advantage of our opportunities.”

Case in point: the Mustangs converted just two of 10 power play chances.

“Big factor,” Medina said.

Each team scored once in the third quarter to keep the Barons on top by three goals. But Bonita Vista began to run into foul trouble in the second half, as team captain Jessie Yim (third quarter) and Maddocks (fourth quarter) fouled out of the game.

Otay Ranch, which suddenly began to surge in the final minutes of the game, kept chipping away at the Bonita Vista lead, reducing the Baron edge to 8-6 with 2:17 to play, 9-7 with 1:37 to go in regulation and finally 9-8 with 30 seconds remaining.

The game got even more intense when the Mustangs Rachael Medina made a steal on the restart and Otay Ranch managed to call a timeout with 11 seconds to play.

Gallardo was playing the role of coach and cheerleader equally at this point. “There’s nothing else to tell you at this point but to play good ‘D’,” he said to his team during the timeout.

The Mustangs got two shots on the Bonita Vista cage. The first shot was tipped wide by Baron goalie Emily Bowman with three ticks left on the clock.
Elyse Dayrit’s lob shot hit the crossbar at the buzzer.

Bonita Vista players then began to celebrate as Gallardo, after issuing a sigh of relief, no doubt, began motioning for the ecstatic Baron fans to cheer even louder.
“This was the first time we’ve really had all our girls together at the same time,” Gallardo said. “We’re young — we have five juniors and basically the rest sophomores — but I’m happy with the progress we’ve made. We set up our schedule where we played teams at or above our level the first half of the season. We had three games, I believe, against Torrey Pines that were all within three goals.”

Bonita Vista finished last week’s San Diego Open tournament 2-3 with final-round losses to Grossmont (ranked 10th in the section) and Westview.
Otay Ranch finished 4-1 with victories against Mira Mesa, Orange Glen, San Pasqual and Patrick Henry and an 11-10 loss in sudden death overtime against Rancho Buena Vista.

Hakes keyed the Barons with four goals in Tuesday’s game while Maddocks contributed two goals and Skinker, Jill Calvert and Yim (on a prodigious half-tank lob) each scored once. Though statistics were not available, Bowman had to have close to a dozen key stops.

For the Mustangs, Dayrit finished the contest with one goal and two steals while Christina Eaton had three goals.

Gallardo credited the team’s younger players for holding on in the final moments. “Jessie Yim and Wesley Maddocks are two of our starters. When we lost them, our younger girls had to step in there. They did a great job. I’m pretty happy,” the BV coach said.

Hakes paced the Barons with five goals in Bonita Vista’s 13-6 victory against Eastlake on Jan. 29. The Barons previously scored first-round wins against Eastlake (15-5 on Jan. 11) and Chula Vista (22-3 on Jan. 30).

The Mustangs’ message after Tuesday’s eventful encounter was that the season is not quite over. The teams must play a make-up game, tentatively set for Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Parkway pool in downtown Chula Vista.

“It’s not over yet,” said Otay Ranch assistant coach Chris Moselle, whose team defeated Chula Vista, 17-0, on Feb. 1. “We get one more shot at them.”
Sounds like a new rivalry is in the works.

Notepad
•As of Feb. 1, Coffer, a junior, had recorded a school record 91 goals to go with 17 assists, 64 steals, 40 ejections drawn (another school record) and 10 five-meter penalty shots earned (also a school record). Coffer had nine goals in an 11-8 victory against Patrick Henry last Saturday at the San Diego Open to set a new school record.

Eaton, a junior, had 55 goals, 10 assists and 64 steals while Dayrit had 54 goals, 16 assists and 45 steals. Senior Rachael Medina had 22 goals, 10 assists and 30 steals. Ten players had 10 goals or less while both goalies — Tina Poole and Carolyn Lechner — each had more than 100 saves. Lechner had 15 saves in last Saturday’s win against Patrick Henry.

•The Mustangs topped Chula Vista, 17-0, on Feb. 1 to improve to 3-0 in league play. In that game, Coffer had five goals and two assists.
The shutout was the Mustangs’ fourth this season — yet another school record.

•Otay Ranch defeated Bonita Vista, 7-1, in junior varsity play on Tuesday to improve to 10-4 overall, 2-0 in league play.

San Diego Open Scoreboard
(Metro Conference teams)
Bonita Vista 8, Monte Vista 2
Bonita Vista 7, El Capitan 5
Grossmont 11, Bonita Vista 10
Westview 13, Bonita Vista 7
Rancho Buena Vista 11, Otay Ranch 10 (OT)
Otay Ranch 10, Mira Mesa 4
Otay Ranch 8, Orange Glen 4
Otay Ranch 8, San Pasqual 4
Otay Ranch 11, Patrick Henry 8
Valley Center 18, Mar Vista 9
Orange Glen 7, Mar Vista 6
Mar Vista 11, Mira Mesa 8
El Capitan 8, Eastlake 3
Ramona 6, Eastlake 5
Eastlake 7, Santana 6
Grossmont 10, Hilltop 0
Mission Bay 8, Hilltop 4

Championship: Bishop's 18, Poway 9

Semifinals: Bishop's 13, El Dorado (Placentia) 7; Poway 15, University City 9

All-Tournament Team
First team
Sarah Van Norman( Bishop's) - MVP
Chelsea Smith-Carmichael (Bishop's)
Zinnea Alexander (Bishop's)
Carra Butler (Poway)
Liz Cunningham (Poway)
Rachel Page (El Dorado/Orange County)
Paige Squiller (University City)

Second team
Kylie Chevalier (El Dorado/Orange County)
Bryann Burns (Rancho Buena Vista)
Natalie Pompa (Rancho Buena Vista)
Kellsie Arolla (La Costa Canyon)
Julie Monday (La Costa Canyon)
Sophie Rassell (Cathedral Catholic)
Dominique Sardo (Bishop's)
Allison Smith (University City)

Otay Ranch, Bonita Vista post Mesa League victories
Posted Jan. 31, 2007
Roni Coffer scored three goals to increase her season total to 86 goals with eight games remaining in regular season play as Otay Ranch topped Eastlake, 10-6 in overtime, in a Mesa League girls water polo game on Tuesday. Christina Eaton had four goals in the game while Elyse Dayrit scored three goals for the Mustangs (2-0 in league, 12-5 overall). The teams entered overtime tied 6-6 before Otay Ranch came out on top.

Eastlake, which fell to Bonita Vista by a 13-6 score on Monday, dropped to 1-2 in league play.

Bonita Vista, which remained undefeated in league play at 3-0 (inclusive of a first-round win against the same Titans), received five goals from Carly Hakes in the win.

Bonita Vista and Otay Ranch will meet in a rescheduled game Feb. 9. The teams are also scheduled to meet Feb. 6.

Otay Ranch Mustangs making even bigger splash
Posted Jan. 25, 2007
The Otay Ranch High School girls water polo team ascended to new heights by a fourth-place finish at the East County Invitational Jan. 15, 19-20. The Mustangs missed qualifying for the championship game with a shootout loss in the semifinals.

“This is the best place in a major tournament the boys or girls polo team has had,” head coach Ernie Medina said.
The Mustangs battled El Capitan to a standoff in the teams’ semifinal matchup, with the Vaqueros swimming away with a 2-1 edge in a resulting shootout to determine which team would advance to the championship game.

West Hills defeated Valley Center, 8-6, in the other semifinal. In the championship game, West Hills topped El Capitan, 12-2.
Otay Ranch (10-5) finished fourth in the tournament after a 12-9 loss to Valley Center. The Mustangs opened tourney play with victories against Ramona, 4-2, and Eastlake, 13-7, on Jan. 15 and El Cajon Valley, 19-0, on Jan. 19 to win their bracket with a 3-0 record.

The four bracket champions advanced to the semifinals.

For Otay Ranch, Roni Coffer earned selection to the All-tournament First Team while Elyse Dayrit earned honorable mention honors.

Besides the top four tournament place-finish, competing in this year’s East County Invitational also proved to be memorable for another reason as Coffer set a new team season record with 74 goals scored.

“She has a good chance to hit the century mark this season,” Medina said.

The matchup against longtime East County power El Capitan was the second on the season. Previously, the Mustangs fell to the Vaqueros, 8-5, in an overtime contest on Jan. 6 after the teams had battled to a 4-4 regulation deadlock. In the overtime period, Otay Ranch lost two players to foul ejections, Medina noted.

The day before, the Mustangs, bolstered by 11 goalie saves by Carolyn Lechner, defeated Monte Vista 15-4 behind seven goals by Coffer, seven by Christina Eaton, two by Dayrit and one by Rachael Medina.

“Last season, Otay Ranch lost to El Capitan, 17-6, and this year (we are) competing with very good teams,” Medina said proudly. “Point Loma, Monte Vista and El Capitan all made CIF playoffs last year in Division II and Point Loma and El Capitan (were) both in first place in their leagues.”

The Mustangs faced off Mesa League play Tuesday with a 20-1 victory against Chula Vista at the Loma Verde pool. Coffer, Dayrit, Medina, Eaton and Alex Sanchez each had three goals in the win while Claudette Degodoy and Abby Wirsching each scored twice. Lechner had five saves in the game.

Upcoming high profile games for Otay Ranch include those against Bonita Vista (Jan. 25 and Feb. 6) and Eastlake (Jan. 30 and Feb. 8).

Mustangs ride wave to 6-0 start
Posted Dec. 21, 2006
The Otay Ranch High School girls water polo team extended its season-opening record to six wins without a loss by defeating Mar Vista by a 14-8 score and topping St. Joseph’s by a 9-4 score in its two most recent games.

Roni Coffer had seven goals and Rachael Medina scored three goals to help lead the Mustangs past Mar Vista in a non-league game played Dec. 14. Claudette Degodoy scored two goals in the game while Elyse Dayrit and Carolyn Lechner each contributed one goal in support of goalie Tina Poole, who was credited with 10 goalie saves.

The Mustangs traveled to Long Beach to engage St. Joseph’s in another non-league game on Dec. 19. Coffer and Christina Eaton led the Otay Ranch scoring with thee goals apiece while Dayrit contributed two goals and Medina scored one goal. Lechner had six goalie saves in the win.

The Mustangs, who will play in the Mesa League this season, were scheduled to play their next game Dec. 21 against La Costa Canyon at the Encinitas YMCA. A non-league game against Santa Fe Christian has been rescheduled to Jan. 11.

Mustangs improve to 3-0 in girls water polo
Posted Dec. 7, 2006
The Otay Ranch High School girls water polo team continues to not so quietly rack up victories to start the 2006-07 season. The Mustangs were back in the water piling up goals — and shrinking the goal for opponents — after defeating Point Loma, 9-1, in non-league play Tuesday at the Parkway pool.

The win against the Pointers — a qualifier in last year’s San Diego Section Division II playoffs — raised Otay Ranch’s early season record to 3-0 in what should be the team’s best-ever showing in its short history.

This is the third season for the Mustangs. Otay Ranch finished 8-8 in its inaugural season of play in 2004-05 and 11-11 in 2005-06.

“We’re happy with the progress we’ve made, but we still have a lot of work to do,” Mustangs head coach Ernie Medina said. “Our goal is to make it to the CIF playoffs.”

Roni Coffer scored four goals and Elyse Dayrit scored three times to lead Otay Ranch in Tuesday’s game. Cindy Velasquez and Christina Eaton each scored once to round out the scoring while goalie Tina Poole made nine saves.

The Mustangs led just 2-0 after the first quarter but took control of the game by outscoring the Pointers 5-1 in the second quarter for a 7-1 halftime lead.

Coffer, who led the team with three steals in the game, had three of her four goals in the first half to ignite the Otay Ranch offense.

Carolyn Lechner was credited with two steals for the winners.

Medina said there are five players from the original Mustang team still with the program, including his daughter Rachael. Dayrit is one of those five players and is serving as one of the team’s captains this season along with Coffer and Eaton.

“Point Loma was very physical,” said the Otay Ranch coach, whose team defeated host El Cajon Valley by a 16-1 score on Nov. 30 in its previous outing.

In that game, Coffer and Eaton each scored five goals and Poole had a shutout going until the last 59 seconds.

Upcoming games include a Dec. 12 non-league match at Santa Fe Christian and a Dec. 14 game against Mar Vista at the Parkway pool. Both games feature 3 p.m. starts.

“We expect our heavy competition to start with Santa Fe Christian,” the elder Medina said.

Eastlake 17, Hilltop 4
Junior Meghan Argo tallied six goals and five steals, junior Daphne Dion scored five goals and sophomore Jacquie Kimmel had three goals to lead the Titans in Tuesday’s non-league victory against the Lancers. For Eastlake, Junior goalie Laura Barrick made six blocks for Eastlake, which won the junior varsity game by a 13-4 score.

Mustangs face off 2006-07 season with 20-0 win
Posted Nov. 28, 2006
Otay Ranch High School girls water polo coach Ernie Medina feels his team has what it takes to win a league championship this season. While Mesa League play does not start until mid-January, the Mustangs coach has to be pleased with his squad’s 2006-07 debut — a 20-0 non-league victory against Hilltop Tuesday at the Loma Verde pool.

Roni Coffer scored seven goals to lead Otay Ranch to its first win in its first official game of the new season while Elyse Dayrit contributed five goals and Rachael Medina and Christina Eaton each scored three goals.

Tina Poole was credited with five goalie saves.

The Mustangs won the junior varsity game between the two teams by a 20-3 score.

Otay Ranch is scheduled to play at El Cajon Valley on Thursday, Nov. 30, before taking on Point Loma and Morse Tuesday, Dec. 5, and Thursday, Dec. 7, respectively, in a pair of home games at the Parkway pool in downtown Chula Vista.
Game time for the two upcoming non-league games is 3 p.m.