SD Prep Sports:

2006-07 Winter Sports
Metro Conference

Roller Hockey

CIF/Metro Conference 2006-07 Game Summaries

West Hills 3, Bonita Vista 0
Nov. 27 at Skate San Diego: West Hills coach Richard Lopez said he felt his team would be what he referred to as the conference's "surprise team" this season and the Wolf Pack did not appear to give Lopez any reason to retract that statement in its season opener against the Barons, braced by all-conference goaltender Cody Mazzarella. West Hills scored single goals in each period to roll past Bonita Vista, though the Wolf Pack had to work hard to beat Mazzarella despite owning a vastly superior shot ratio. "He was stopping us from everywhere," Lopez said in reference to Mazzarella's heroics between the pipes.

Andrew Delgadillo earned the honor of scoring the first goal of the 2006-07 season. The goal, which was assisted by Logan Boehm, came with five seconds remaining in the first period after Mazzarella had stopped everything in sight to that point in what can only be described as a shooting gallery in front of the Baron net. Bonita Vista coach Keith Quigley admitted before the contest started that his team would be short of several regular players because of clearance problems or travel. Kelly Nash's highly anticipated homecoming after a year of playing girls basketball will have to wait, as she was in Minnesota playing ice hockey.

Still, the Barons played well defensively, with stick blades hugging the floor to help deflect shots from reaching Mazzarella.

The Wolf Pack made it 2-0 with 5:30 left in the second period when Keith Gurr scored his first goal of the season. Team captain Travis Peters scored with 3:23 left in the final quarter.

West Hills goaltender Cameron McIntyre was credited with two saves. Conservative estimates placed the Wolf Pack with 50 shots on the Bonita Vista net by contrast.

West Hills, which continues to carry the torch for the sport in San Diego East County, has 28 players in its program this season -- more than double the 12 players carried last season when the team finished 3-16 in its inaugural season of CIF-sanctioned play.

"I plan for us to be the surprise team," Lopez said. "We're hoping for at least third in the North County League. If you got a goal, go after them."

Lopez' words do not appear to be idle ones after a preseason coaches poll ranked the Wolf Pack #8 out of 20 teams in the conference.

Top returners include forwards Peters and Delgadillo and defensemen Tucker Lopez and Matt Gage. McIntyre returns for his second year in the net.

Part of West Hills' slow start last season could be attributed to the team's newness with five freshman. Those youngsters all have a year under their skates and are joined this season by three new freshmen -- but freshmen who have invaluable ice hockey backgrounds.

"We've got some great freshmen. They're all skilled in ice hockey and in condition," the elder Lopez said. "We've got a future ahead of us."

Richard Lopez is joined this season by assistant coaches Rocky Delgadillo and Mark Shute.

"Last year it was just to get out there. Now we feel we can compete," the elder Delgadillo said.

"Compete with the North County teams," the elder Lopez interjected.

At 1-0, the wins hope to keep mounting for the Wolf Pack. "It was great to get that first CIF win (of the season)," Richard Lopez said.

Poway 23, Southwest 0
Nov. 27 at Skate San Diego: The defending North County League champion Titans faced off their third season of CIF-sanctioned play as 11 players scored at least one goal and 16 players registered at least one point. Three players finished with five points for Poway: Eric Eyler (3 goals, 2 assists), Trevor Cochran (3 goals, 2 assists) and Stephen Lockwood (2 goals, 3 assists). Chris Van Holle contributed four points (3 goals, 1 assist) while Zach Vachris had a three-goal hat trick and Chase Leibman dished out three assists. In all, four players finished the game with hat tricks.

Nick Cochran and Darren Barnes each scored two goals for the Titans, who raced to an 8-0 first period lead and led 14-0 entering the final period.

Poway has advanced to the Kiwanis Cup championship game each of the past two seasons, only to fall in overtime. Titan coach Dale Ingram is hoping season No. 3 tells a different story.

"We've been there every year and have given it away in the championship game in overtime," Ingram said. "Hopefully, the third time is the charm. It's getting old losing like that."

Top returners include Lockwood and Barnes, both four-year varsity players, as well as fellow seniors Adam Gould and Trevor Cochran, both three-year varsity players, and senior Eliott Gormican, a two-year varsity player. Cochran, Gormican and Barnes are defensemen; Lockwood and Gould are forwards.

Breaking new ground this season will be sophomore goaltender Dominic Jimenez, who played at the junior varsity level last season.

"That's going to be the battle zone for us entering this year," Ingram said. "That's going to be an unknown for every team."

This season's North County League expects display a lot of parity this season and scores against South County teams could be much closer than in the past. Rancho Bernardo finished first in a preseason league, going undefeated.

"Anyone can win or lose (in any game)," Ingram said.

Scripps Ranch expects to field a power offense this season along with Rancho Bernardo while the Titans will state their case with defense, Ingram said. "I think Scripps Ranch, Poway and Rancho Bernardo will all battle. I think we'll be loaded on defense," he said.

Westview 6, Mar Vista 4
Nov. 28 at Skate San Diego: Mar Vista fought back from a 4-1 first-period deficit against defending Kiwanis Cup champion Westview to knot the score at 4-all entering the final period. However, the Wolverines rallied to skate off with a 6-4 victory. Ian Nicklen, last year’s conference scoring leader, was credited with all four Mariners goals. Eric Obinger had two goals and one assist to lead Westview, which returns just two of its top 10 players from last season.

Otay Ranch 10, Hilltop 6
Nov. 28 at Skate San Diego: Matt Nafarrete had four goals and three assists and Zach Johnson added four goals to help propel Otay Ranch’s wild and entertaining comeback against Hilltop. Ricky Gutierrez added two goals and one assist for the Mustangs, who trailed 2-1 after the first period and coughed up four second-period goals to trail at one point 5-2 in the middle period. However, Otay Ranch regrouped and scored on eight of its next 13 shots. Gutierrez was credited with the eventual game-winning goal as the Mustangs finished three for six on the power play. Otay Ranch coach Mark Holland listed his team’s three stars as Nafarrete (first), Johnson (second) and defenseman Gabe Beddoes (third).

Ruben Benavides and Kekoa Latimore were each credited with a pair of goals for Hilltop, which was outshot 11-2 in the third period after owning a 12-10 advantage in shots through two periods. Kevin Mark and Cory Garvin were credited with the Lancers’ other goals.

Chula Vista 8, Castle Park 3
Nov. 28 at Castle Park High School: Chula Vista rolled to an 8-3 win against Castle Park on Tuesday as captain Eric Tamayo scored two goals and one assist and Tony Laezza scored twice. The Spartans broke open the game with a run of six unanswered goals.

Bonita Vista 14, Southwest 0
Nov. 29 at Skate San Diego:Bonita Vista received four goals and one assist from Max Ramos in Wednesdays’ win against Southwest while teammate Ryan Veenstra racked up two goals and six assists. Daniel Ruelas had two goals and one assist while Nick Girard contributed four assists for the Barons (1-1). Justin Ross had a goal and assist for the winners, who were propelled on the court by Kelly Nash's six goals and two assissts.

St. Augustine skates to 30-0 win in CIF opener
Nov. 29 at Skate San Diego: St. Augustine, the CIF/Metro Conference’s newest member, saw the long and short of it in its opening two games. The Saints, who easily boast the best logo in high school roller hockey (a take-off on that worn by the WHA Minnesota Fighting Saints in the 1970s), defeated the San Diego Jewish Academy by a score of 30-0 in their official CIF-sanctioned debut on Monday. Junior Greg Park led the scoring parade with seven goals and seven assists, followed by sophomore Cameron Kayfish with three goals and five assists and freshman Daniel Deiters with three goals and four assists. Freshman Sam Thomas and sophomore Carter Pool each scored four goals while sophomore Trent Robinson had a hat trick in the history-making game.

Missing 11 of those 30 goals due to the absence of Park and Thomas in Wednesday’s matchup against red-hot West Hills — the early season nominee for most improved, and vastly so, team in the conference — St. Augustine fell by a 10-1 score.
Sophomore goalie Mick Hammock kept the Saints in the game, at least through the halfway mark, with 35 saves before the Wolf Pack began to attack in droves, scoring five third-period goals to ice the game. Andrew Delgadillo, Logan Boehm and Matt Gage each scored twice for undefeated West Hills (2-0). Pool had the lone goal for the Saints, who trailed 4-0 before finally managing to put some offensive pressure on West Hills netminder Cameron McIntyre (0.50 GAA in two games).

The Saints are fielding a young team this season with one senior, three freshmen, three sophomores and the rest juniors, according to coach Christian DaLuz. “Our goal is to be competitive in games and skate and get a flavor for what some of the elite teams look like,” DaLuz said. “It’s a young group. We’re excited. I think we can play better in the future.”

Hilltop 18, Chula Vista 1
Dec. 5 at Skate San Diego: The Lancers skate to a 7-0 first period lead and finished the game with eight goals in the third period. Ruben Benavides and Kevin Mark each were credited with five goals while Travis Tampueco was credited with four goals. Benavides added four assists for a nine-point game. Kekoa Latimore received credit for two goals and four assists while Eric Mark had two goals and two assists.

Hilltop 3, West Hills 3
Dec. 7 at Skate San Diego: Ruben Benavides scored all three goals for the Lancers, including the game-tying goal in the third period, as the teams skated to an overtime stalemate. None more impressed with the effort was Hilltop coach Dan Vaccaro. "Our seniors stepped up against a North County League team. I’m proud of what I saw out there."

The Wolf Pack remained unbeaten at 3-0-1. Tim Shaw, Keith Gurr and Logan Boehm were each credited with one goal as West Hills — 3-16 a year ago — jumped out to a quick 2-0 first period lead and owned a 3-2 edge heading into the final period. "We were hoping for 4-0," said Wolf Pack coach Richard Lopez, who called the game against Hilltop (1-1-1) its toughest opponent to date. "We were all around the net. We just couldn’t put it in the net. Our goal remains unchanged. We’re looking at third (in league play) and hope to go up from there as the season progresses."

Chula Vista 12, Castle Park 2
Dec. 11 at Skate San Diego: The Spartans evened their early season record at 2-2 after rolling past the Trojans on Monday. Eric Sharp was credited with four goals and one assist while Tony Laezza scored three goals and Eric Tamayo contributed one goal and three assists. Daniel Breon, Bryan Cuevas and Nicholas Klein also were credited with goals. Ryan Ponce had both goals for Castle Park.

LJCD 5, Bonita Vista 4
Dec. 13 at Skate San Diego: Senior captain Oren Siegel scored with 1:51 to play in the final period as the Torreys (2-4) snapped a 5-all tie. Kelly Nash had apparently positioned the Barons (1-4) for overtime when she scored on a breakaway with 4:41 left, only to have La Jolla Country Day notch the game-winner just under three minutes later. Nash had two goals and one assist to lead Bonita Vista, which led early 2-0. Siegel finished with a hat trick for the Torreys, who also received two goals from assistant captain Matt Mulligan and two assists from assistant captain Ben Sweeney.

St. Augustine 15, San Diego Jewish Acdademy 2
Dec. 14 at Skate San Diego: Steven Curran and Trent Robinson were each credited with three goals as the Saints scored five times in each period to subdue the Lions. Carter Pool was credited with two goals in the first period.

Holy puck! Mar Vista beats Poway, 5-4, in roller hockey

Posted Dec. 14, 2006
The Kiwanis Cup championship playoffs don’t face off until late February but the Mar Vista Mariners gave the traditionally stronger North County teams something to contemplate after scoring a landmark 5-4 non-league victory against two-time defending North County League champion Poway Tuesday at Skate San Diego in National City.

The win was definitely an uplifting one — as evidenced by the sticks in post-game celebrations — for the defending South Bay League champion Mariners.

“The goal that I set for the team this year was to play well in every game,” Mar Vista coach Ron Cole said. “I am proud of my team for playing hard and winning against a very good Poway team. We will continue to strive for excellence.”

Cole hands out Players of the Game awards after each contest. The recipients of that award after Tuesday’s game were forward Jeremy Tanaka, goaltender Mike Gisi and defenseman Ian Nicklen.

Tanaka scored the game’s jump goal at the 1:50 mark of the first period and Nicklen — last season’s conference scoring leader — followed with two goals and an assist. Mike Ellison and Adrian Avalos each had a goal and assist while Gisi limited Poway to one goal through two periods of play.

The Mariners, who improved to 3-2 following Wednesday’s 9-3 non-league victory against Eastlake, broke a 1-1 tie on a goal by Nicklen with just six seconds left in the opening period and added two unanswered second period goals to lead 4-1 entering the final period.

The Titans (4-1) halved the deficit on a goal just 33 seconds into the final period but Mar Vista promptly restored its three–goal lead when Nicklen scored five minutes later. Nicklen’s third-period tally held up as the game-winner after Poway scored twice in the final 5:24 of the contest.

Eric Eyler and Stephen Lockwood each scored twice for the Titans, whose regular season mark in the CIF/Metro Conference is 37-4-4 over parts of the past three seasons.

“Jeremy played a great game,” Gisi said. “When he got the puck, he knew where to put it. Everybody played well. The team stopped more shots than I did. My defense played hard in front of me.”

Avalos (two goals, one assist) and Tanaka (one goal, three assists) were tabbed by Cole as the Mariners’ Players of the Game on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Nicklen had four goals and two assists in the win. Ellison and Marcos Rodriguez also scored goals.
The Mariners led 2-1 after the first period before pulling away with a five-goal burst in the second period to lead 7-3 entering the final stanza.

“We started slow but then got it together,” Cole said. “We will continue to work hard.”

Eastlake entered Wednesday’s game coming off a 4-3 overtime loss to West Hills (4-0-1) the day before. The Titans rallied from a 3-0 deficit to send the game into overtime on third-period goals by Casey Shotwell and J.K. Williams. However, Matt Gage kept the Wolf Pack undefeated in the early stages of the season with a goal midway through the five-minute OT period.
Shotwell had two goals for Eastlake while Keith Gurr scored twice for West Hills, which continues to hold the distinction as the most improved team in the 20-team conference.

Otay Ranch 5, Westview 3
The Mustangs preceded the Mariners in recording the first big win of the new season for South County teams after toppling last year’s Kiwanis Cup champions on Nov. 30. Otay Ranch led 2-1 after the opening period and snapped a 3-3 tie with the only two goals of the third period — one each by Matt Nafarrete and Ricky Gutierrez. Nafarrete and Zach Johnson finished the game with two goals and one assist apiece for the Mustangs.

“They’re not the team they were but it’s important that we beat another North County team. That list is getting shorter,” Otay Ranch coach Mark Holland said. “Poway and Scripps Ranch are the last two teams on that list. We might not be the dominant program but if (the North County teams) come down here and don’t take us that seriously, they’ll lose.”

The Mustangs upped their record to 3-2 following Monday’s 9-3 non-league victory against La Jolla Country Day as Johnson and Nafarrete each registered hat tricks. Otay Ranch’s bid at defeating Poway came up tantalizing short in a 7-5 loss on Dec. 7. In the latter game, the teams were tied 3-3 and 4-4 before Poway opened up a tight 6-5 lead with an insurance goal with 1:46 to play.

A new era dawns on Eastlake Titans roller hockey

Posted Dec. 19, 2006
A new era has dawned on Eastlake High School’s roller hockey program with the arrival of head coach Rone Torres. The New Jersey transplant is only the second head coach in school history since the Titans joined the CIF/Metro Conference seven years ago.

While this is Torres’ first head coaching assignment, he is no stranger to the sport after playing hockey (goaltender) three years in high school in New Jersey and two more years in college at Central Connecticut State.

He outlined the team’s goals in concise terms. “It is my understanding that they’ve never won a league championship (in CIF-sanctioned play), so our goal this year is to definitely go for one,” the Titans bench boss said.

Top returners include five players with three years of varsity experience: Zach McElroy, J.K. Williams, Kyle Wagner, Daniel Hoshina and Casey Shotwell. Nathan Scharmann is another player with experience who looks to contribute.

Williams led the Titans last season in scoring with 33 goals and 19 assists for 52 points, followed by Shotwell (24 goals, 10 assists) and Scharmann (24 goals, five assists). McElroy, who paced Eastlake in scoring two seasons ago with 26 goals and 22 assists, tallied eight goals and 12 assists last season.

The Titans finished 5-4-1 in league play last season, 8-9-1 in regular season play and qualified for the Kiwanis Cup championship playoffs as the 11th (out of 12) seeded-teams, losing 9-4 to sixth-seeded Rancho Bernardo in the opening round.

This season’s Titan squad looks to be competitive after facing off the season with a 4-3 overtime loss against West Hills in non-league play on Dec. 12 and absorbing a 9-3 setback against Mar Vista in another non-league matchup on Dec. 13.

In the former game, the Titans rallied from a 3-0 deficit to send the game into overtime on third-period goals by Shotwell and Williams. However, Matt Gage kept the Wolf Pack undefeated in the early stages of the season with a goal midway through the five-minute OT period. Shotwell had two goals for Eastlake while McElroy and Scharmann were each credited with assists.

In the loss against Mar Vista (which defeated two-time defending North County League champion Poway by a 5-4 score on Dec. 12 to claim bragging rights as top South County team thus far this season), Eastlake trailed just 2-1 after the opening period and was still very much in the contest — trailing 5-3 – with five minutes to play in the second period. The Mariners closed out the contest with four unanswered goals.

Eastlake skated to an 8-0 lead on Castle Park in one period of hockey played Dec. 7 at the outdoor rink at Castle Park High School.

Team chemistry, Torres said, will be just as an important ingredient to success on the floor as actual talent. “There were philosophical differences in the past where some players left the team but they were given the opportunity to come back this year and give it another chance,” Torres said. “The slate has been wiped clean for their senior year. So far, it’s worked.”

Eastlake faces off Mesa League play Jan. 4 against defending league champion La Jolla. The Titans will have the opportunity this season to intensify a developing rivalry with Otay Ranch as the Mustangs (last season’s South Bay League co-champions) join the Mesa League this season.

Otay Ranch eliminated Eastlake two years ago in the Kiwanis Cup championship playoffs with a 3-2 overtime victory.
La Jolla can thank the Titans for having something to do with capturing last season’s league title after tying Bonita Vista, 5-5, in a key late season game to prevent the Barons from finishing with a co-championship.

Otay Ranch roller hockey team continues to roll forward

Posted Dec. 21, 2006
If the number of players on this year’s Otay Ranch High School roller hockey team seem smaller than in the past, there is nothing wrong with one’s eyesight. The Mustangs have intentionally limited their roster this season to just 10 to 11 players, as compared to 13 skaters last season.

The roster size might be smaller but that does not reflect at all on the talent assembled on the floor.

“We’re doing this without two kids who didn’t make grades,” Otay Ranch coach Mark Holland said. “But we’re doing OK.”

What the Mustangs have done to face off the 2006-07 CIF/Metro Conference season is to defeat Westview, last year’s Kiwanis Cup champions, and nearly topple two-time defending North County League champion Poway.

Overall, Otay Ranch skated into the holiday break with a 3-2 record, including victories against Hilltop (a come-from-behind 10-6 win in its season opener), Westview (5-3) and La Jolla Country Day (9-3). Losses have come against Rancho Bernardo (9-2) and Poway (7-5).

The Mustangs have already accomplished one of their goals, which was to make the program year-round.

“High school teams can only do club teams after CIF,” Holland said. “The important thing is we hope this goes year-round. We have to have a JV program to have a steady stream of players.”

Top returners include Ricky Gutierrez, Matt Nafarrete, Zach Johnson and goaltender Victor Holland. Also among the returners are original team members Angelo Seganit and A.J. Walker.

Nafarrete tallied 44 goals and 19 assists to finish second in team scoring behind senior graduate Adrian Rodriguez while Gutierrez ranked third in team scoring with 27 goals and 18 assists and Johnson was sixth with 11 goals and 13 assists as a freshman.

Johnson may be the most improved player this season.

Among the impact newcomers is defenseman Ryan Meadows, an experienced ice hockey player who was voted the team’s No. 1 star in the loss to Rancho Bernardo.

Defenseman Gabe Beddoes earned one of the team’s three stars in the win against Hilltop. In that game, the Mustangs trailed 5-2 midway through the second period before finishing the contest with a ferocious 8-1 scoring edge.

But the team’s biggest win of the season thus far has to be the one against Westview on Nov. 30. Otay Ranch led 2-1 after the opening period and snapped a 3-3 tie with the only two goals of the third period — one each by Nafarrete and Gutierrez. Nafarrete and Johnson finished the game with two goals and one assist apiece.

“They’re not the team they were but it’s important that we beat another North County team. That list is getting shorter,” the elder Holland said. “Poway and Scripps Ranch are the last two teams on that list. We might not be the dominant program but if (the North County teams) come down here and don’t take us that seriously, they’ll lose.”

The Mustangs upped their record to 3-2 following their non-league victory against La Jolla Country Day on Dec. 11 as Johnson and Nafarrete each registered hat tricks.

Otay Ranch’s bid at defeating Poway came up tantalizing short in a 7-5 loss on Dec. 7. In the latter game, the teams were tied 3-3 and 4-4 before Poway opened up a tight 6-5 lead with an insurance goal with 1:46 to play.

Nafarrete had four goals and three assists and Johnson added four goals to help propel Otay Ranch’s wild and entertaining comeback against Hilltop. Gutierrez added two goals and one assist for the Mustangs, who scored on eight of their next 13 shots to skate to the win. Gutierrrez was credited with the eventual game-winning goal as the Mustangs finished three for six on the power play.

West Hills faces off CIF roller hockey season undefeated

Posted Dec. 23, 2006
The West Hills High School roller hockey team finished 3-16 in its inaugural season in the CIF/Metro Conference in 2005-06. It appears the Wolf Pack was only getting its wheels lubed as the San Diego East County team has skated to a complete turnaround in its second season

At 5-0-1 with a victory against the two-time defending North County League Poway Titans, few would dispute that West Hills is the most improved team in the state’s first CIF-sanctioned inline hockey circuit.

West Hills head coach Richard Lopez said his skaters should expect bigger and better things this season.

“I plan for us to be the surprise team,” Lopez said. “We're hoping for at least third in the North County League. If you got a goal, go after it.”

Lopez' words do not appear to be idle ones after a preseason coaches poll ranked the Wolf Pack eighth out of 20 teams in the conference. West Hills did its best to live up to that lofty ranking after facing off regular season play with an impressive 3-0 shutout victory against perennial playoff qualifier Bonita Vista Nov. 27 at Skate San Diego in National City.

Wins followed against St. Augustine (10-1) and defending Mesa League champion La Jolla (11-4). The Wolf Pack continued to remain undefeated with a 3-3 draw against Hilltop, then proceeded to claim a 4-3 overtime win against Eastlake before recording its most significant victory in school history ― a 4-2 decision against Poway Dec. 13 at the Escondido Sports Center to face off league play.

West Hills’ secret to success, Lopez said, has been to keep the team together year-round at the club-level. Case in point: The Wolf Pack has 28 players in its program this season -- more than double the 12 players carried last year.

Top returners include forwards Travis Peters and Andrew Delgadillo and defensemen Tucker Lopez and Matt Gage while goaltender Cameron McIntyre returns for his second year in the net.

Peters serves as team captain this season; Delgadillo and Lopez are the team's assistant captains.

Part of West Hills' slow start last season could be attributed to the team's newness with five freshman. Those youngsters all have a year under their skates and are joined this season by three new freshmen -- but freshmen who have invaluable ice hockey backgrounds.

“We’ve got some great freshmen. They’re all skilled in ice hockey and in condition,” the elder Lopez said. “We’ve got a future ahead of us.”

Richard Lopez is joined this season by assistant coaches Rocky Delgadillo and Mark Shute.

“Last year it was just to get out there. Now we feel we can compete,” the elder Delgadillo said.

“Compete with the North County teams,” Richard Lopez interjected.

At 5-0-1 and counting, the wins hope to keep mounting for the Wolf Pack.

Andrew Delgadillo earned the honor of scoring the first goal of the 2006-07 season in the CIF/Metro Conference. Keith Gurr and Peters also added goals in the season-opening 3-0 win against Bonita Vista. McIntyre was credited with two saves. Conservative estimates placed the Wolf Pack with 50 shots on the Bonita Vista net by contrast.

“It was great to get that first CIF win (of the season),” Richard Lopez said.

New horizons
Tim Shaw scored 3:32 into the game to give West Hills the jump goal in its game against Poway, which owned a 33-3-4 record in its two previous seasons of play in the CIF/Metro Conference. Chase Liebman got the game-tying goal for the Titans, who then promptly fell behind 2-1 on a goal by Andrew Delgadillo (assisted by Tucker Lopez) just 1:18 into the second period. Danny Barnes tied the game for Poway with 3:13 left in the middle period but the Wolf Pack scored the only two goals of the third period to skate to the history-making victory. Logan Boehm received credit for the go-ahead 3-2 goal with 9:19 to play in the final period while Delgadillo added an insurance goal with 32 seconds left.

Poway faced off its third season of CIF-sanctioned play as 11 players scored at least one goal and 16 players registered at least one point in a 23-0 victory against Southwest on Nov. 27. Three players finished with five points: Eric Eyler (3 goals, 2 assists), Trevor Cochran (3 goals, 2 assists) and Stephen Lockwood (2 goals, 3 assists). Chris Van Holle contributed four points (3 goals, 1 assist) while Zach Vachris had a three-goal hat trick. Four players finished the game with hat tricks.

Poway has advanced to the Kiwanis Cup championship game each of the past two seasons, only to fall in overtime to Scripps Ranch in 2005 and Westview in 2006. Titan coach Dale Ingram is hoping season No. 3 tells a different story.

“We’ve been there every year and have given it away in the championship game in overtime,” Ingram said. “Hopefully, the third time is the charm. It’s getting old losing like that.”

Top returners include Lockwood and Barnes, both four-year varsity players, as well as fellow seniors Adam Gould and Cochran, both three-year varsity players, and senior Eliott Gormican, a two-year varsity player. Cochran, Gormican and Barnes are defensemen; Lockwood and Gould are forwards.

Breaking new ground this season will be sophomore goaltender Dominic Jimenez, who played at the junior varsity level last season.

“That's going to be the battle zone for us entering this year” Ingram said. “That’s going to be an unknown for every team.”

This season's North County League expects display a lot of parity this season. Rancho Bernardo finished first in a preseason league, going undefeated.

“Anyone can win or lose (in any game),” Ingram said.

Scripps Ranch expects to field a power offense this season along with Rancho Bernardo while the Titans will state their case with defense, Ingram said. “I think Scripps Ranch, Poway and Rancho Bernardo will all battle. I think we’ll be loaded on defense.”

Heading into the holiday break, there were only two undefeated teams left in the conference ― both in the North County League: the Scripps Ranch Falcons (6-0-0) and West Hills (5-0-1). The Falcons faced off North County League play with a 8-5 victory against Rancho Bernardo. In that game, Scripps Ranch scored three goals in the final 2:16 to snap a 5-5 tie. Matt Comrie led the Falcons with four goals, including two in the team’s final game-winning burst, while Chad Ruhwedel had two goals and one assist, Jason Diehl contributed one goal and two assists and Ryan Knight had a goal and assist.

Scripps Ranch held leads at the end of the opening two periods at 3-2 and 4-3 before the Broncos tied the game, 5-5, on goals by Kory Grahl and Tanner Woodbury with 4:12 to play in regulation. The loss was the first in six games to start the season for Rancho Bernardo (5-1-0), which received two goals and one assist from Adam Child in the Dec. 13 encounter against the Falcons.

Defending Kiwanis Cup champion Westview, which returns just two of its top 10 players from last season due to graduation, faced off North County League play with a 7-0 victory against Vista, also on Dec. 13. Shane Clement led the Wolverines (5-1-0) with four goals while Phil Sansone, Lee Ying and Leo Scheiler each scored single goals.

North County League teams will play a triple-round schedule, totaling 15 league games, prior to the start of the Kiwanis Cup championship playoffs in late February.

Titans hand Saints 8-5 loss in Mesa League opener

Posted Jan. 2, 2007
The St. Augustine Saints could not have asked for a better start to their first Mesa League game after scoring on their first two shots. But the Titans, who scored on their opening shot of the contest, would not be denied their own dramatics to score their first victory of the 2006-07 season in come-from-behind fashion. Eastlake (1-0 league play, 1-2 overall) trailed 3-1 midway through the first period but rallied to go ahead 4-3 before being caught by the Saints and then reeled off three unanswered goals to own a 7-4 advantage.

Casey Shotwell gave the Titans a 1-0 edge just 18 seconds into the contest. However, St. Augustine (0-1, 2-5) promptly scored three goals against the general run of play to hold the early edge. Shotwell scored again off a feed from J.K. Williams to end the period and Michael Kelley was credited with a goal 4:01 into the second period as Eastlake tied the score 3-3. The Titans then took a 4-3 lead as Zack McElroy whipped off a shot from the point on a power play.

The Saints tied the score but McElroy struck again with just 1:40 left on the clock in the middle period to allow Eastlake to regain the lead at 5-4. The Titans then delivered a crushing blow as Shotwell pounced on a turnover in the Saints defensive end and rattled the back of the cage with just eight seconds left in the middle period. Hat trick for Shotwell. 6-4 Eastlake.

The Titans struck again just 45 seconds into the third period to give them three goals in a 2:25 span and a 7-4 lead. The teams exchanged goals thereafter, with Williams netting his second of the contest on a shot from just inside half court to close out scoring for the winners with 10:12 left.

Greg Park was credited with three goals and one assist for the Saints, who also received a goal and assist from Carter Pool and a goal from Trent Robinson.

La Jolla 18, Castle Park 0
Jan. 2 at Skate San Diego: Johnny Noris had five goals and five assists to lead the Vikings in the non-league encounter against the Trojans. Nick Whaley had six goals and one assist, Gabe Rudolph had four goals and three asists and Matt Cox had three goals and two assists for La Jolla, which led 7-0 at the end of the opening period.

Bonita Vista 11, Chula Vista 0
Jan. 3 at Skate San Diego: Kelly Nash had two goals and four assists, Ryan Veenstra added two goals and one assist, Steven Micallef had two goals and Blake Tanner added one goal and two assists to lead the Barons. Daniel Ruelas added a goal and assist for Bonita Vista, which scored four times in boht the opening and closing periods. In an all-girl match-up, Nash set up teammate Melissa Ho's goal with 9:56 to play in the second period to give the Barons a 7-0 cushion.

Mar Vista 16, Castle Park 0
Jan. 3 at Skate San Diego: Ian Nicklen racked up 10 points on seven goals and three assists and teammate Jeremy Tanaka added four goals and three assists as the Mariners faced off South Bay League play with a victory. Mike Ellison dished out four assists for Mar Vista, which rolled to a 7-0 first-period lead and entered the final period with an 11-0 advantage.

Eastlake 14, Southwest 1
Jan. 3 at Skate San Diego: Casey Shotwell and Nathan Scharmann each had hat tricks and Zack McElory added two goals and three assists in the non-league game. The Titans lead 4-0 after the first period and finished the contest with six goals in the third period. Alexander Martinez was credited with Southwest’s goal as the Raiders ended a run of eight consecutive Eastlake goals. Andrew Abuyo had three assists for the Titans.

Otay Ranch 14, Chula Vista 0
Jan. 4 at Skate San Diego: Matt Nafarrete had eight points on four goals and four assists and Ricky Gutierrez had seven points on five goals and two assists to lead the Mustangs to the Mesa League win. Otay Ranch expanded on a 4-0 first-period lead by reeling off eight second-period goals. Zach Johnson had two goals and two assists while Angelo Seganti was credited with one goal and one assist. Gabe Beddoes and A.J. Walker had the Mustangs’ other goals.

Eastlake 16, La Jolla Country Day 1
Jan. 8 at Skate San Diego: Casey Shotwell, Nathan Scharmann and J.K. Williams each scored twice in the first period to help the Titans off to a 9-0 start. Williams topped Eastlake with four goals in the non-league matchup while Andrew Abuyo led all Titans on the court with three goals and four assists. Eastlake also received three goals and two assists from Shotwell, three goals and one assist from Scharmann, two goals from Justin White and one goal and two assists from Kyle Wagner. The Titans led 13-0 before Oren Siegel, assisted by Matt Mulligan, broke Eastlake’s shutout bid with 8:02 left in the third period.

Mar Vista 17, San Diego Jewish Academy 0
Jan. 8 at Skate San Diego: Ian Nicklen, last season’s Metro Conference scoring leader, racked up seven goals and two assists and Jeremy Tanaka collected three goals and five assists to lead the Mariners to the South Bay League victory. Adrian Avalos had three goals while Devon Felkner had two goals and one assist and Mike Ellison contributed one goal and two assists. Marcos Rodriguez had one goal and one assist and Garry Wegener contributed two assists for Mar Vista, which led 5-0 at the end of the first period and 10-0 heading into the final stanza.

Hilltop 21, Castle Park 1
Jan. 8 at Skate San Diego: Cory Garvin registered 11 points on six goals and five assists to lead the Lancers, who lead by scores of 5-0 and 11-1 after the opening two periods, respectively. Hilltop received goals from 10 players in the South Bay League game, including four goals and three assists from Kekoa Latimore, two goals and two assists from Ruben Benavides, two goals and one assist from Travis Tampueco, two goals from Greg Watters and a goal and assist from Eric Mark. The Lancers closed out the game with 14 unanswered goals, including a 10-0 showing in the final period. Ryan Ponce scored the lone goal for the Trojans.

La Jolla 5, Bonita Vista 4
Jan. 9 at Skate San Diego: Johnny Noris scored all five goals for the Vikings, including the game-winner with 16 seconds to play. La Jolla never led in the game until the final goal, tying the contest four times before finally notching the win. Nick Whaley registered three assists in the game, including the assist on the game-winning goal. Kelly Nash scored two goals to pace Bonita Vista, which also received goals from Melissa Ho and Blake Tanner. Tanner lifted a laser over the shoulder of Viking goaltender Ken Satterlee — and just under the crossbar — with 7:11 to play in the third quarter to put the Barons ahead 4-3. BV netminder Cody Mazzarella turned in a standout performance in the loss.

Vista 10, Eastlake 8
Jan. 9 at Skate San Diego: The Titans recovered from an early 2-0 deficit to take a 7-5 lead heading into the final period, only to suffer a third-period collapse. The victorious Panthers scored four unanswered goals to take a 9-7 lead halfway through the third period, then rang up an insurance goal by Jared Johnson with 52 seconds to play after Eastlake had narrowed the score to 9-8 with 2:05 to play. Three Vista players finished the non-league game with hat tricks: Johnson, Guy John Lemieux and Zach Cameron. Owen Gilchrist had four assists for the Panthers while Ethan Gilchrist had one goal and one assist. The Titans rallied with a run of three goals in a 2:13 span to close out the middle period. Andrew Abuyo led Eastlake with three goals and one assist. The Titans, who trailed 3-2 after the first period, reeled off five goals in the second period to take the lead. Justin White and Abuyo were each credited with two goals during that run while Casey Shotwell also had a goal.

St. Augustine 12, Chula Vista 1
Jan. 9 at Skate San Diego: The Saints earned their first Mesa League victory by scoring four goals in each period. Carter Pool paced St. Augustine with four goals and one assist while Daniel Deiters was credited with four goals and Greg Park was credited with one goal and four assists. The Saints scored twice in the opening minute of play on goals at 28 and 53 seconds and led 4-0 before the Spartans could reply with a goal by Bryan Cuevas.

Otay Ranch 14, Southwest 0
Jan. 9 at Skate San Diego: Matt Nafarrete scored a natural hat trick to open the game and led all scorers on the floor with six goals and one assist. Ricky Gutierrez scored four goals and two assists for the Mustangs, who led 5-0 at the end of the first period and closed out the game with six goals in the final period. Zach Johnson had one goal and five assists while Angelo Seganti contributed two goals and one assist and A.J. Walker had one goal and one assist.

Hilltop 12, La Jolla Country Day 2
Jan. 10 at Skate San Diego: Travis Tampueco scored three goals and Cory Garvin, Kekoa Latimore, Ruben Benavides and Andrew Ries each scored two goals to lead the Lancers to their second consecutive runaway win. Benavides lead all scorers in the game with five points by adding three assists while Latimore had three points with an assist. Kevin Mark contributed a goal and assist for Hilltop, which opened up a 5-0 lead in the South Bay League contest. Oren Siegel led the Torreys with a goal and assist while Chris Warren scored one goal for LJCD, which also received an assist from Matt Mulligan.

San Diego Jewish Academy 3, Castle Park 2
Jan. 10 at Skate San Diego: Aaron Shinoff scored two goals, including the game-winner, as the Lions recorded their first victory of the season in a game pitting winless squads. SDJA led 2-0 at the end of the opening period on goals by Shinoff and Allen Lilienthal despite not enjoying the run of play. Castle Park’s persistence finally paid off as Atliano Fuerte cut the Trojans’ deficit on the scoreboard to 2-1 with the only goal of the second period. The Lions went up 3-1 on Shinoff’s second goal 2:15 into the third period. Castle Park trimmed the SDJA lead to a goal with 4:06 left in the game when Johnny Cruz tapped in a shot to the near post. The Trojans had a chance to send the contest into overtime on the last shot of the game but the puck was stopped by Lions goaltender Joel Feinstein, who was credited with 20 saves in the game.

Otay Ranch 10, St. Augustine 1
Jan. 11 at Skate San Diego: Matt Nafarrete scored five goals to lead the Mustangs to the Mesa League victory. Zach Johnson contributed two goals and one assist to the winning effort while Ricky Gutierrez, Angelo Seganti and Sean Gray each were credited with single goals. Gutierrez, Vic Holland and Gabe Beddoes each were also credited with an assist in the game. Otay Ranch trailed early 1-0 on a goal by the Saints' Greg Park (assisted by Quinn Pendleton) but outscored the CIF/Metro Conference newcomers 10-0 over the balance of the contest. The Mustangs led 4-1 at the end of the first period and 8-1 entering the final period.

La Jolla 15, Southwest 0
Jan. 11 at Skate San Diego: Nick Whaley scored six goals and added one assist to help key the Vikings to the non-league victory. Matt Cox had four goals and one assist for La Jolla, which opened up a 6-0 first-period advantage and added six more goals in the second period. Peter Gotfredson had three goals and two assists while Johnny Noris dished out four helpers in the contest. Gabe Rudolph scored one goal and two assists while Chris Granillo was credited with one goal.

Chula Vista 6, San Diego Jewish Academy 4
Jan. 16 at Skate San Diego: Tony Laezza had two goals and three assists to lead the Spartans in the non-league encounter. Laezza was credited with both of Chula Vista's final goals as the Spartans snapped a 4-4 deadlock in the final two minutes of regulation play. Eric Sharp had two goals while Eric Tamayo and Sammy Galaz each were credited with one goal for the victors, who broke a 2-2 first-period standoff with the only goal of the second period. The Lions received single goals from Allen Lilienthal, Aaron Shinoff, Sam Freeman and Saul Mock.

St. Augustine 15, La Jolla 11
Jan. 16 at Skate San Diego: The Saints stormed out to a 7-1 first-period lead and held off the Vikings from there as La Jolla won the final two periods by a score of 10-8. Greg Park keyed St. Augustine with five goals while teammate Trent Robinson was credited with four goals and Carter Pool was credited with three goals, T.J. Acierno with two goals and Daniel Deiters with one goal. Deiters also picked up two assists in the game while Pool was credited with one assist. Park scored three times in the first period while Robinson added a pair of goals. The Vikings, however, mounted a comeback with six goals in the middle period to pull to within 11-7 on the scoreboard. La Jolla made it 11-9 after scoring the opening goal of the thrid period but the Saints regrouped with four goals in the period to match the Vikings. Johnny Noris had all 11 goals for La Jolla.

Otay Ranch Mustangs are on the move
Posted Jan. 25, 2007
How do you replace a superstar? Well, you don’t, as nearly every coach in every sport will profess.

You build on the strengths of what you have in your arsenal and attempt to cover your weaknesses as best as possible.
The Otay Ranch High School roller hockey team — sans superstar Adrian Rodriguez — seems to be doing an admirable job through the first half of the 2006-07 CIF/Metro Conference roller hockey season.

The Mustangs closed out the first half of their 20-game regular season schedule with an 8-2 record following a 7-3 victory against Eastlake on Jan. 16. The 8-2 record tied Mar Vista for the top mark among South County teams in the 18-team Metro Conference. Otay Ranch also sported a 3-0 league record to jump-start its move over to the Mesa League this season.

The Mustangs shared last season’s South Bay League title with Mar Vista.

Rodriguez was inarguably a big part of Otay Ranch’s almost instant success in the sport and he still has a big presence on the team as an assistant coach. A member of the United States under-16 World Cup team, Rodriguez placed his mark on the sport locally by scoring 91 goals and 197 points to help lead the Mustangs to a 30-9-2 regular season record in their first two years of existence. Otay Ranch qualified for the playoffs in each of those seasons, reaching the semifinals of the Kiwanis Cup championship playoffs last season after posting an upset win against neighborhood rival Eastlake the season before.

Rodriguez led the entire conference in scoring with 62 goals and 39 points as a junior and earned honors as last season’s South Bay League Player of the Year.

In short, players of extreme ability such as Rodriguez are few and far between.

But first-year head coach Mark Holland likes what he sees on the floor this season. In fact, this season’s team has the opportunity to record a milestone by reaching the 50-win plateau before this season is over. Including playoffs, Otay Ranch owned 40 wins in two-plus seasons heading into its Jan. 23 game against Bonita Vista.

Such an amazing feat would help write a new chapter in the program’s history.

“We don’t have the playmaking ability that Adrian brought. When you had all the points that Adrian had, he could own a game,” Holland said up front, adding, “But a lot of these guys are not playing in his shadow anymore. Our top guys like it that way.”

The Mustangs coach singled out several players — defenseman Zach Johnson foremost among them — who he said have “blossomed” in their own right with Rodriguez’ departure from the court.

“Zach has a much bigger role on the team,” Holland said. “He’s one of our alternate captains. Before, when Adrian was here, Zach was our stay-at-home defenseman while Adrian was more of an offensive threat on defense. Now Zach has taken over that role.”

Another player to watch, according to Holland, is rookie James Dionicio, who the Otay Ranch bench boss said “is coming along at light speed.”

In statistics tabulated at the holiday break, Johnson paced the Mustangs in scoring with 10 goals and four assists, followed by teammates Matt Nafarrete (nine goals, five assists) and Ricky Gutierrez (five goals, five assists).

Johnson serves as one of the team’s three captains, joining original Mustangs Matt Nafarette (captain) and Angelo Seganti (alternate captain).

“All three captains have the team practicing hard,” the elder Holland said.

Nafarette was a first team all-league selection last season when he tallied 44 goals and 19 assists for 63 points. Gutierrez, a second team all-league pick in 2005-06, finished with 27 goals and 18 assists for 45 points last season.

Joining Gutierrez on last season’s all-league second team as a sophomore was goaltender Victor Holland, the coach’s son.
The elder Holland, who moved into the head coaching position this season after serving as an assistant coach, said he likes the team’s overall makeup this season, starting on the playing surface where players tease each other in good-natured fashion.

“The chemistry here is outstanding. It has been all season,” Holland said.

Though Rodriguez may no longer be leading the Mustangs on the floor, high standards remain. Goals have been clearly defined for this year’s squad, the Otay Ranch coach said.

“We want to go undefeated in our own league,” Holland said. “We want to be outright champions. With all the banners that say ‘co’ on them, it takes some of the luster off a championship.”

In the meantime, Otay Ranch will vie with its former league rival, Mar Vista, for supremacy in the Mesa and South Bay leagues. The teams are scheduled to meet Jan. 30 and Feb. 8 in what could shape up as two of the top matchups of the entire season.

The Mustangs have already proven they can hang with the conference’s top echelon North County League teams, recording a 5-3 non-league victory against defending Kiwanis Cup champion Westview and just coming up short in a 7-5 loss to three-time defending North County League champion Poway.

The 2007 Kiwanis Cup championship playoffs face off Feb. 20.

“Our game against Poway was a huge let-down,” the elder Holland said. “We should have beaten them. It was one of those games that if you had played a little bit longer and a little bit harder, you would have won.”

New horizons
Still, the Mustangs have encountered a few speed bumps along the way — most notably a 8-3 loss to defending Mesa League champion La Jolla on Jan. 18. The score shocked those who were not present at the game. Otay Ranch players seemed almost apologetic when discussing it afterward.

Each team seems to receive a proverbial “wake-up” call at some point in their season and the Mustangs certainly learned a few things from the loss to the Vikings by rolling out to an impressive 7-2 victory against Bonita Vista in their next game. Otay Ranch entered Tuesday’s high profile matchup against the Kelly Nash-led Barons tied for first place in the Mesa League standings, with each team sporting a 3-1 league record.

The game was tight for the opening two periods, with the score see-sawing between the eastside rivals. The Mustangs drew first blood, leading 2-0 on goals by Nafarrete and Gutierrez, before Nash set up teammate Blake Tanner with 3:49 to play in the first period.

The Barons tied the score on another goal by Tanner, this time set up by Daniel Ruelas, with 6:15 elapsed in the middle period. The score remained deadlocked for five minutes, with Bonita Vista rattling a potential go-ahead shot off the pipe before Nafarrete gave Otay Ranch a 3-2 lead, assisted by Beddoes.

The Mustangs closed out the final period with four unanswered goals, including two by Gutierrez and one each credited to Walker and Dionicio. Gutierrez finished the game with three goals and three assists while Johnson dished out a pair of helpers. Dani McAvenia also received credit for one assist.

Mark Holland said the key to the team’s resurgence was to return to a basic formula first set forth in youth hockey years ago at the 9-11 age level at Chula Vista RollerSkateLand.

“After a practice and a couple days of re-tooling our defensive scheme, the team came out and played three solid periods of hockey for the first time this year against a quality opponent,” the Otay Ranch coach said.

“Most of these guys have played for me in club, so we decided to go back to a scheme everyone was familiar with.We kept our most experienced defenseman in the back. Our best two-way player became our right wing. We put some of our less experienced players at forward. We talked about the La Jolla game. The guys seemed to fall right into it. We bounced back, and even at times when the game was close, the level of frustration and disappointment never rose like it did against the Vikings.”

La Jolla’s Johnny Noris, who had 13 assists in the Vikings’ 20-0 win against Chula Vista on Tuesday, scored four goals against the Mustangs in that Jan. 18 contest to match teammate Nick Whaley. La Jolla, which defeated Bonita Vista by a 5-2 score on Jan. 9, owned a 4-1 lead through the opening two periods and led 6-1 before holding off a belated third-period rally by Otay Ranch by scoring four times in the final stanza.

The Mesa League standings remain a jumble, with Bonita Vista, La Jolla and Eastlake all in contention to chase Otay Ranch down to the wire for the title. The Barons had upped their league mark to 3-1 via an emotionally-inspired 5-2 victory against longtime rival Eastlake on Jan. 18.

In the latter game, Bonita Vista opened up a 3-0 first-period lead and led 4-2 entering the final period whereupon the Barons tacked on the only goal in the period while holding the Titans off the scoreboard. Nash, who will play women’s ice hockey for defending NCAA champion Wisconsin this fall, led Bonita Vista with two goals and two assists while Ryan Veenstra scored twice and Tanner chipped in with one goal.

J.K. Williams paced Eastlake with one goal and one assist while Zack McElroy scored once for the Titans, who came back from that game with 14-1 and 13-2 victories against Castle Park and La Jolla Country Day, respectively.

“Bonita Vista and Eastlake — it’s always a fun one. It goes back to RollerSkateLand,” BV coach Keith Quigley said. “We lost Willy Anderson (to an injury). He’s one of our top defensemen. It’s always real competitive. It’s always a battle. The kids got up for the game. They came out flying from the get-go. (Goaltender) Cody (Mazarella) made some quality saves. (Eastlake) comes out flying at us every year. We had to come back. One of our players said it felt like a playoff game. We should have that attitude every game regardless of what color the other team is wearing. Hopefully, we an build on that performance.”

Mar Vista 9, Hilltop 3
Mar Vista solidified its position atop the South Bay League standings with a determined victory against Hilltop on Monday. The Mariners, who improved to 11-2 on the heels of Wednesday’s 10-0 win against Southwest, stormed out to a 7-1 lead on the Lancers, who could only match Mar Vista with two third-period goals.

“Our strategy was not to let them get behind our defense because they have some quickness on their team,” said Nicklen, who entered the week leading the conference in scoring with 49 goals and 26 assists.

Nicklen had three goals and three assists against Hilltop while cousin Jeremy Tanaka contributed three goals and one assist. Adrian Avalos also had three goals and three assists in that game.

Hilltop wins wild one, 7-6

Posted Jan. 24, 2007
Hilltop roller hockey coach Dan Vaccaro had one word to say after leaving the floor following his team’s dramatic 7-6 come-from-behind non-league victory against La Jolla on Wednesday: “Wow!” No other words were necessary.

The Vikings, last year’s Mesa League champions, seemed to be cruising along with an apparently comfortable 5-1 lead with three minutes gone by in the second period. It quickly turned quite uncomfortable for La Jolla, which was promptly out-scored 6-1 over the balance of the final 25 minutes.

The Vikings (6-8-0 overall) led 6-2 entering the final period but failed to find the net in the last 15 minutes thanks to the acrobatic goaltending of Alex Penkin and a torrid offensive surge by the Lancers that strung out the La Jolla defense.

Hilltop (6-6-1) answered the Vikings’ early run with five third period goals, including three by Kekoa Latimore and two by Ruben Benavides.

Latimore opened the final period with a goal at the 1:57 mark to trim the La Jolla lead to 6-3. Benavides followed with a pair of strikes with 4:13 and 7:40 gone in the frame to further diminish the Vikings’ lead to 6-5.

Latimore took care of the rest, scoring an unassisted goal with 5:38 to play to tie the game and firing in a perfect centering feed from Benavides with just 1:12 left in regulation play.

Kevin Mark, assisted by Cory Garvin, had Hilltop’s lone goal in the opening period as the Lancers fell behind early 3-1. Greg Watters scored an unassisted goal for Hilltop in the second period. Garvin picked up his second assist of the game in the third period.

The win was the fifth in six games for the Lancers, who were the unfortunate victim of four consecutive forfeit losses stemming from an incident in a Dec. 12 game against Bonita Vista. In that game, Hilltop led 7-2 when a Bonita Vista player charged a Lancer player after a hit had sent a Baron player (Kelly Nash) into the dasher boards. Several Hilltop players subsequently hopped over the bench onto the floor — a supreme “no-no” in hockey — to suspend the contest.

Though the incident fell well short of a brawl, the Lancers were left with several player suspensions for leaving the bench area, thus draining the roster for future games. Hilltop had to forfeit subsequent games to La Jolla, San Diego Jewish Academy and Otay Ranch as well as the game against Bonita Vista, thus leaving the team with a 1-5-1 record to start the season.

Vaccaro, who felt his squad was unfairly docked, said the team’s resolve was to go 13-0 for the rest of its regular season schedule and the Lancers came out to make good on that pledge by winning their first four games once the suspensions were over. Those wins included verdicts against Castle Park (21-1), La Jolla Country Day (12-2), Southwest (12-0) and St. Augustine (5-4).

“A light suddenly went on in the kids’ heads,” Vaccaro said.

Hilltop’s streak was finally stopped by defending South Bay League champion Mar Vista, 9-3, on Monday. But the Lancers picked right up where they left off with Wednesday’s thrill-packed victory against La Jolla — a matchup that easily turned into one of the most entertaining games of the season to date.

Nick Whaley led the Vikings with four goals while Johnny Noris had one goal and three assists. Matt Cox had the other La Jolla goal.

In the Jan. 17 game against St. Augustine (15-11 winners against La Jolla the day before), Latimore scored the game-winner for Hilltop with 2:11 to play after the Saints had rallied to tie the score at 4-4 on goals by Greg Park and Carter Pool. Benavides had two goals and two assists to lead the Lancers while Watters and Travis Tampueco also were credited with goals in the game.

Hilltop’s players are unique in that virtually the entire team grew up playing together in youth leagues at Chula Vista RollerSkateLand, thus cementing a bond.

Eastlake 12, Chula Vista 2
Jan. 25 at Skate San Diego: J.K. Williams and Zack McElroy each scored three goals to lead the Titans, who scored six times in the opening period and led 9-0 entering the final period. McElroy also contributed four assists for a seven-point performance while Kyle Wagner had two goals and two assists. Casey Shotwell and Andrew Abuyo both had one goal and one assist.

La Jolla Country Day 6, Southwest 1
Jan. 25 at Skate San Diego: Matt Mulligan (the Torreys’ quarterback during the football season) had a hat trick while Gabe Fox added a goal and assist.

Bonita Vista 8, Castle Park 0
Jan. 25 at Skate San Diego: Ryan Veenstra had four goals and one assist and Blake Tanner contributed one goal and four assists. Steven Micallef had two goals and one assist while Daniel Ruelas was credited with one goal.

Otay Ranch 9, St. Augustine 2
Jan. 25 at Skate San Diego: Matt Nafarrete keyed the Mustangs with two goals and three assists while teammate Zach Johnson scored two goals and added one assist. Ricky Gutierrez had two goals for Otay Ranch, which open-ed up a 5-1 lead after the first period.

Hilltop 17, Castle Park 1
Jan. 29 at Skate San Diego: Kevin Mark had five goals, Kekoa Latimore had four goals and one assist, Travis Tampueco had two goals and four assists, Ruben Benavides had three goals and two assists and Greg Watters had two goals and one assist to pace the Lancers offense in the South Bay League game. Hilltop (4-2, 7-6-1) led 16-0 before Ryan Ponce scored for Castle Park (1-5, 1-13) with 2:38 to play.

Mar Vista 16, San Diego Jewish Academy 0
Jan. 29 at Skate San Diego: Ian Nicklen had four goals and three assists and Jeremy Tanaka had five goals and two assists to lead the Mariners past the Lions (3-3, 3-11) in the South Bay League matchup. Marcos Rodriguez had two goals and two assists while Adrian Avalos had one goal and two assists. Mike Ellison scored twice while Devon Felkner scored once.

Bonita Vista 9, La Jolla Country Day 0
Jan. 29 at Skate San Diego: Kelly Nash had four goals and one assist to lead the victorious Barons, who received two goals each from Max Ramos and Willy Anderson. Cody Mazzarella recorded the shutout, his fourth this season.

Mariners roll past Mustangs, 7-2, stake claim as South Bay's best
Posted Jan. 31, 2007
Roller hockey is defined as a non-check sport, though that designation seems to be enforced to varying degrees, not only at local rinks but across the country and at various skill levels.

A lot, of course, depends on the players involved. In South County, most of the players on the court grew up playing strictly roller hockey whereas North County teams tend to have more of a mix of players who play both roller and ice hockey.
For those who have had a chance to watch an ice hockey game played by high school-age players, well … it can get pretty rough out there.

Mar Vista coach Ron Cole reasons his team, which improved to 13-2-0 following Tuesday’s 7-2 non-league victory against Otay Ranch in a matchup of the South County’s two best squads, will do very well in the upcoming Kiwanis Cup championship playoffs if games are officiated per roller hockey rules. If ice hockey checking is allowed, the Mariners may face a challenge that might prove too great to overcome.

Mar Vista’s two losses this season are against defending Kiwanis Cup champion Westview (6-4) and two-time Kiwanis Cup champion Scripps Ranch (9-4).

“If the refs let us play roller hockey, we’ll be fine in the playoffs,” Cole said. “If the refs let the North County teams play ice hockey, that could create problems for us.”

The Mariners certainly created a lot of problems for Otay Ranch, which entered Tuesday’s game ranked third in the 18-team conference ahead of fifth-ranked Mar Vista.

The teams tied for last year’s South Bay League title, finishing 1-1-1 in three matchups against one another. Otay Ranch moved to the Mesa League this season to immediately become the favorite to win the title in that league.

Tuesday’s game thus pitted the teams with the best overall records in the two South County-based circuits. The Mustangs entered the contest 10-3-0 with losses to Poway (7-5), Rancho Bernardo (9-2) and La Jolla (8-3). The Mariners were unbeaten against South County competition in 11 previous matchups.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the game was played with playoff-type intensity as well in front of a standing-room-only crowd. Mar Vista led 4-0 before Otay Ranch could get on the scoreboard and led 6-1 before the Mustangs could muster their second goal of the contest.

The Mariners played so well that they looked as if they could already reserve a spot in the Kiwanis Cup championship game.

“We’re taking it one game at a time (from here on),” Cole said following the huge victory.

The teams rematch Feb. 8 at Skate San Diego in National City.

Jeremy Tanaka was credited with three goals and four assists while Adrian Avalos had two goals and one assist. Ian Nicklen, the conference’s scoring leader, and Mike Ellison both contributed one goal and one assist while goaltender Mike Gisi recorded a shutout first period and allowed single goals in each of the following two stanzas.

“Mike Gisi played one of the best games in his four-year career. I’m lucky to have the best goalie, in my opinion, in the county,” Cole said. “I thought Jeremy Tanaka, who had a hat trick, played a very smart game.”

While Cole lauded the efforts of both Gisi and Tanaka, he also credited the whole team as well for its standout performance.

“Our whole team played hard, smart hockey, kept their feet moving, did what they had to do,” the MV coach said.
The game was scoreless until the Mariners struck for goals 24 seconds apart in the final five minutes of the first period. Nicklen set up the first goal scored by Tanaka, who in turn set up the team’s second goal scored by Avalos.

Mar Vista made it 3-0 just 21 seconds into the second period on a goal by Nicklen and that seemed to frustrate the Mustangs, who spent the better part of the middle frame killing penalties.

The Mariners outscored Otay Ranch 3-1 in the second period and 2-1 in the final period, adding an empty net goal by Avalos with 18 seconds to play.

Ricky Gutierrez was credited with both Mustang goals.

In other games on Tuesday, Eastlake defeated St. Augustine by an 8-5 score for the second time this season in Mesa League play while La Jolla topped Southwest, 16-1, in non-league play and Bonita Vista out-gunned Chula Vista, 14-2, in a Mesa League encounter.

Four different players scored for Eastlake. Nathan Scharmann led the Titans (5-2, 9-5) with three goals and one assist while Zack McElroy and J.K. Williams each had two goals. Kyle Wagner had a goal and assist.

Greg Park had a hand in all five goals for the Saints (2-5, 5-10) with two goals and three assists. St. Augustine, which led 1-0 for most of the first period before ending the frame trailing 2-1, fought back from a 5-2 deficit to trail 6-5 with 11:40 left in the game. However, the Titans punched in two goals in the final 5:35 to skate to the victory.

Sophomore Nicole Letona, a first-year roller hockey player, was credited with a hat trick, scoring her first-ever goal with 3:45 left in the second period to boost the Barons (4-2, 8-7) to an 8-1 lead and adding a second goal just 1:46 into the third period. Two of Letona’s goals were assisted by Melissa Ho, who finished the game with two goals and two assists.

Six Bonita Vista players scored in the game, led by Stephen Micallef and Ryan Veenstra, each with three goals and two assists, and Willy Anderson with two goals and two assists. Max Ramos had the other BV goal while Ryan Kean was credited with two assists.

Eric Tamayo and Eric Sharp scored for Chula Vista (0-7, 5-9).

Mar Vista 4, Bonita Vista 1
Feb. 5 at Skate San Diego: Ian Nicklen scored the Mariners’ last three goals while Jeremy Tanaka contributed a goal and assist and Adrian Avalos added to assists. Tanaka scored the only goal of the first period and Nicklen’s first tally gave Mar Vista a 2-0 lead midway through the second period before Melissa Ho scored on an odd rebound to halve the Barons’ deficit at the end of two periods. The game remained in the balance between the respective goaltenders — Cody Mazzarella for Bonita Vista and Mike Gisi for Mar Vista — until Nicklen finally broke through for two goals in a span of 1:12 with just over six minutes to play in the game.

Hilltop 16, Southwest 0
Feb. 5 at Skate San Diego: Ruben Benavides had six goals and two assists, Kekoa Latimore had three goals and two assists and Travis Tampueco had four goals to pace the Lancers in the South Bay League game. Hilltop led just 2-0 after the first period but broke the game open with eight second-period goals. Cory Garvin had one goal and three assists for the Lancers, who closed out the game with six third-period tallies.

La Jolla Country Day 8, Castle Park 2
Feb. 5 at Skate San Diego: Oren Siegel and Chris Warren each scored three goals and Matt Mulligan scored twice to lift the Torreys past the Trojans in the South Bay League encounter. Raul Medina and Salvador Rodriguez were credited with Castle Park’s goals, both of which were set up by Ryan Ponce.

San Diego Jewish Academy 5, Chula Vista 2
Feb. 6 at Skate San Diego: Allen Lilienthal and Aaron Shinoff each scored two goals while Sam Freeman had one goal and two assists and Saul Mock was credited with two assists as the Lions skated past the Spartans in perhaps their best showing on the court this season. Nicholas Klein was credited with both goals for the Spartans in the non-league game.

Titans top Mustangs, scramble Mesa League standings
Posted Feb. 8, 2007
The CIF/Metro Conference Kiwanis Cup championship roller hockey playoffs face off Feb. 20. At this point, the Mesa League’s representative seems unclear after Eastlake skated to a 7-5 upset victory against loop leader Otay Ranch on Tuesday to further scramble the league standings.

This year’s Mesa League champion still could be Otay Ranch or it could be La Jolla or Bonita Vista or even Eastlake — or a combination of all of the above.
“Right now the kids have one goal — that is to finish out the regular season undefeated,” Eastlake coach Rone Torres said following Wednesday’s 8-1 non-league victory against Southwest. “Where we finish in the standings is up to the hockey gods. It’s up for grabs right now.”

The Titans initially trailed the Mustangs by scores of 1-0 and 2-1 but struck for a pair of lightning quick goals 27 seconds apart in the final 30 seconds of the period to lead 3-2 after the initial 15 minutes of play. Zack McElroy scored to offset Otay Ranch’s jump goal and Kyle Wagner supplied another game-tying goal with 30 ticks left on the clock before J.K. Williams gave Eastlake a 3-2 lead with just three seconds left on the score clock.

Both teams scored twice in the second period, with the Titans moving ahead 4-2 before the Mustangs closed to within 4-3. Eastlake once again expanded its lead to two goals at 5-3 when Casey Shotwell scored with 3:50 to play in the period. But Otay Ranch added a goal with 35 seconds to go to once again make it a one-goal game at 5-4.

McElroy scored his second goal of the game just 1:21 into the third period to hike the Eastlake lead to 6-4. But the Mustangs responded in kind once more as Ricky Gutierrez scored his second goal of the night to tighten up the score at 6-5 with 5:53 remaining in the game.

The Titans added an insurance goal off the stick of Wagner — his third marker of the game — with 3:30 left to close out scoring.
McElroy finished the contest with two goals and two assists to complement Wagner’s hat trick.

The victory — Eastlake’s first against the Mustangs in three years — raised the Titans’ league record to 6-3. Eastlake improved to 11-6 overall following Wednesday’s win.

Torres said his team found motivation in the 10-9 loss to La Jolla. “You find little blessings here and there,” the Titans coach said. “We were wondering when the real team would show up like it’s supposed to be. It showed up against an opponent that historically we hadn’t done well against. It took a lot of refocusing on everyone’s part. Either we were going to turn it completely around or our season would end the way it started.”

Tuesday’s loss dropped Otay Ranch to 6-2 in league play. The Mustangs had previously scored a 16-0 victory against Chula Vista on Feb. 1 but before that had dropped a 7-2 non-league decision to South Bay League leader Mar Vista on Jan. 30.

The Mustangs also dropped an 8-3 decision to La Jolla, last year’s league champion, on Jan. 18 to give Otay Ranch three losses in its last six games — not a particularly good sign for the time of the season when teams are attempting to peak at the right time.

La Jolla and Bonita Vista followed in the Mesa League standings with 5-2 league records and identical 9-8 overall marks. The two teams were scheduled to meet Thursday at Skate San Diego in National City, with the winner emerging as the top challenger to either tie Otay Ranch or, with a win against the Mustangs in an ensuing game, claim outright possession of this year’s league title.

Meanwhile, a combination of losses by Otay Ranch, La Jolla or Bonita Vista could leave the Titans with a share of this year’s Mesa League title. Eastlake plays Bonita Vista to close out regular season play on Feb. 15.

The Mustangs meet Bonita Vista on Feb. 13 and close out regular season play against La Jolla on Feb. 15. Otay Ranch also had a high profile non-league game scheduled against Mar Vista on Thursday.

It appears the Mesa League championship could go down to the final game of the season.

Mar Vista, meanwhile, has secured at least a tie for this year’s South Bay League title. The Mariners (15-2) own an 8-0 league record heading into Monday’s game against Castle Park — two games in the loss column ahead of Hilltop, which defeated La Jolla Country Day, 14-2, on Wednesday to break a tie for second place in the league standings.

Mar Vista’s Ian Nicklen entered this week leading the conference scoring leaders with 97 points on 63 goals and 34 assists. La Jolla’s Johnny Noris ranked second with 81 points on 40 goals and 41 assists while Mar Vista’s Jeremy Tanaka was third with 72 points on 40 goals and 32 assists and La Jolla’s Nick Whaley was fourth with 70 points on 50 goals and 19 assists.

Both La Jolla and Bonita Vista appear to be starting to jell in the late season. Bonita Vista engaged Mar Vista in non-league play on Monday and held the score to within a goal before the Mariners skated off to a 4-1 victory on the strength of a pair of third-period goals by Nicklen (who had a hat trick in the contest). La Jolla upended St. Augustine, 16-11, on Tuesday as Noris accounted for 14 points on nine goals and five assists. Linemate Whaley had a big game as well with seven goals and five assists.

La Jolla, keyed by Whaley’s eight points (seven goals, one assist) and six points (three goals, three assists) by Noris, topped Eastlake, 10-9, on Feb. 1 to keep the Titans from owning sole possession of first place in the Mesa League standings.

Scripps Ranch, the North County League leader, continues to pace the conference with a 17-1 record while Rancho Bernardo trails the Falcons with a 16-3 mark, with all three losses to Scripps Ranch, which had its 17-game unbeaten streak ended, 6-2, by Poway Wednesday night.

Both Scripps Ranch and Rancho Bernardo continue to rate as the favorites to meet in this year’s Kiwanis Cup championship game but don’t count out a South County team — or two — from potentially making things interesting come postseason play.

Notepad
St. Augustine’s Greg Park had six goals and four assists in Tuesday’s loss to La Jolla while Carter Pool had five goals and three assists for the Saints (5-12).

Eastlake 8, Southwest 1
Feb. 7 at Skate San Diego: Nathan Scharmann recorded a hat trick and Zack McElroy and Kyle Wagner each had two goals and one assist to lead the Titans (11-6) in the non-league game. Eric Tamayo also had a goal for Eastlake, which led just 1-0 after the opening period. J.K. Williams and Andrew Abuyo each contributed two assists. Louis Phillips was credited with the lone goal by Southwest, which received standout goaltending in the early going from Marco Rey.

Hilltop 14, La Jolla Country Day 2
Feb. 7 at Skate San Diego: Kekoa Latimore had four goals and five assists, Ruben Benvides had four goals and two assists and Cory Garvin had three goals and one assist to lead the Lancers (10-6-1) in a battle of teams tied for second place in the South Bay League standings. Eric Mark scored twice for Hilltop, which also received a goal from Travis Tampueco. The Lancers led 8-0 before the Torreys (8-10) could respond with two third-period goals by Chris Warren.

Castle Park 5, San Diego Jewish Academy 4
Feb. 7 at Skate San Diego: Ryan Ponce had three goals and two assists to lead the Trojans (2-15) to their second South Bay League victory against seven losses. Raul Medina was credited with two goals. Ponce scored the game-winning goal with 4:35 left in the third period to snap a 4-4 deadlock between the teams. Aaron Shinoff scored twice for the Lions (4-14) in the loss.

Raiders's win comes from the heart
Southwest erases 0-18 start with Valentine's Day victory
Posted Feb. 14, 2007
Not everyone can be a champion or a playoff qualifier. But winners do come in all forms. Just ask Southwest High School roller hockey coach Jerry Nestlerode and his players, who collectively had gone oh-for-the-season until Wednesday’s 5-2 victory against the San Diego Jewish Academy at Skate San Diego in National City.

The win was the Raiders’ first of the season after a 0-18 start. Southwest was set to close out regular season play Thursday with a non-league game against Chula Vista.

“It was a great game. The San Diego Jewish Academy really played well,” said Nestlerode, who has coached the Raiders for five seasons. “It was a great hockey game, well played by both teams. A lot of credit has to go to the Jewish Academy and their program. We’re just happy to get a win.”

Antonio Mesa led Southwest, which concluded South Bay League play 1-9, with three goals while Dewayne Adams had one goal and two assists, Louis Johnson had one goal and Carlton Phillips contributed one assist.

As he has done all season, Marco Rey backstopped the team between the pipes.

“Goalies aren’t allowed to be captains but he’s our honorary captain,” Nestlerode said of Rey, the team’s ironman. “He’s been the leader on our team all season — the first to practice and the last to leave. He was in every game for us.”

The Raiders, who boasted 11 skaters and one goaltender on their roster this season, led 2-1 after the opening period in Wednesday’s game and 4-2 entering the final period.

Alan Lilienthal scored both goals for the Lions (3-7 in South Bay League play, 4-16 overall).

Southwest, which has competed against the better teams in the CIF/Metro Conference for the first half of games before eventually being worn down, opened the week with a 3-2 loss to Castle Park on Monday.

The Raiders defeated the San Diego Jewish Academy, 5-4, in inspired comeback fashion on Jan. 22 but Southwest later had to forfeit that game on a rulebook technicality.

“We really wanted a win against Castle Park on Monday but Castle Park has improved,” Nestlerode said.

The Trojans (3-7, 4-16) received three goals from Ryan Ponce in Monday’s game and ended regular season play on a high note Wednesday with a 4-2 non-league victory against Chula Vista as Ponce scored four times.

Inclusive of a 5-4 win against the SDJA on Feb. 7, the Trojans ended the season with three wins in their final four games.

Mar Vista (17-2-1) closed out regular season play with a perfect 10-0 South Bay League record following its 8-5 victory against league runner-up Hilltop (7-3, 10-9-1). Ian Nicklen finished the game with seven points on three goals and four assists to close out regular season play with 118 points (74 goals, 44 assists) as he sought to successfully defend his conference scoring crown.

Nicklen held a seven-point lead on La Jolla’s Johnny Noris heading into Thursday’s final round of regular season contests at Skate San Diego. Noris had tied Nicklen with a prodigious 11-point showing (three goals, eight assists) in the Vikings’ 18-1 Mesa League win against Chula Vista on Tuesday.

Jeremy Tanaka had three goals and one assist for Mar Vista in Wednesday’s regular season finale while Adrian Avalos collected a pair of goals and Mikey Ellison had one assist. Mike Gisi displayed once again why he ranks as one of the conference’s top netminders in thwarting numerous Hilltop scoring chances, particularly early in the contest before the Mariners started to score in bunches and pull away from their opponent.

Gisi made a tenuous 1-0 lead hold up through the opening period until the South Bay League champions broke through for six second-period goals. The Lancers attempted a late rally with three goals in the final period to close to within 7-5 on the scoreboard but Nicklen upped the MV lead to 8-5 on a goal just 41 seconds later.

Hilltop received one goal and two assists from Ruben Benavides while Cory Garvin and Kekoa Latimore each contributed one goal and one assist.

Alex Penkin allowed the one third-period goal by Mar Vista in his one period of duty between the pipes in relief of starter Sklyer Travis.

Championship Thursday
Bonita Vista (6-2-1, 10-8-1) had a chance to finish the season as the Mesa League champion after scoring a 3-2 upset victory against Otay Ranch (6-3, 12-6-1) on Tuesday, sending the Mustangs into a second-place tie with Eastlake. Kelly Nash scored the game-winning goal to complement earlier tallies by teammates Blake Tanner and Willy Anderson.

La Jolla (6-2-1, 10-8-1) also had a chance to secure at least a share of this year’s Mesa League title with a victory against Otay Ranch. Conversely, both Eastlake (6-3, 13-6) and Otay Ranch could finish as co-champions with victories Thursday.