By Phillip Brents

Posted Oct. 20, 2005

They are the Hilltop Ducks, at least for one more season, anyway. But what a season it could be.

"It’s about half-half now with the name," Hilltop coach John Salts said. "The veteran players on the team still call the team ‘Ducks’ while the younger players call it ‘Lancers,’ so I guess we’re the Ducks for at least one more season."

The nickname swap started a few years ago. Shortly thereafter, a duck logo started showing up on team swimwear. Prior to the start of games, the team would huddle in one corner of the pool, start a cheer and end it with a chant of "Quack! Quack! Quack!" in unison.

Younger players might be wondering exactly what is going on but the meaning is special to the upperclassmen on the team.

It is those upperclassmen who appear to be making a statement this season. With Wednesday’s 6-5 loss to defending South Bay League champion Mar Vista in Imperial Beach, Hilltop once again looks to be in the thick of the league championship race this season after narrowly falling to the Mariners in a pair of hotly contested games last year.

The teams’ initial encounter last season rated as one of the most exciting games ever played since the sport was refunded by the Sweetwater district in 1987.

Wednesday’s game also carried its share of drama, though not the kind that Salts might have wanted. Moments before boarding the bus for the game, Salts said the team learned it would not have the services of two varsity players for the game. Mar Vista led 6-2 heading into the fourth quarter.

"Hilltop pulled it together the second half but not to the point of a victory," said Salts, who termed the result "a big disappointment."

Based on head-to-head scores, Hilltop, which according to Salts had to make last-minute substitutions and position changes to accommodate a new lineup, appeared to be the favorite entering the game.

Once again facing an uphill climb, Hilltop (5-11) will have to regroup and score a victory against Mar Vista when the teams rematch Nov. 4 at the Parkway Plunge, Hilltop’s home pool.

"Though the team took the loss today and will take some practices to overcome and adjust to this new lineup, we fully expect to rebound and make a solid run at the South Bay League title. This team has been together for four years. They feel it is their time," Salts said.

The South Bay League champion receives automatic entry into next month’s San Diego Section playoffs. A co-championship would reward one team with an automatic entry; the other would need to qualify on an at-large basis.

Garret Griffin led the Mariners with five goals in the game. Salts said seniors Garrett Boyle (one goal, two assists) and Greg Felix (three goals, one assist) did an excellent job in keeping his team in the game while goalie Mitch Seeley made 19 saves. Nicko Fix had a goal and two assists for Hilltop, which next plays in next week’s San Diego Open varsity tournament (Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday).

Hilltop appeared to have surfaced at the right time. Heading into Wednesday’s first-round showdown, the team had hiked its record to 3-0 in league play following wins against Marian Catholic (17-2), Castle Park (12-8) and Otay Ranch (12-4).

Garrett Boyle led the scoring parade against Marian Catholic on Oct. 7 with three goals and six assists while teammate Greg Felix had four goals and three assists. Matt Chism contributed a goal and four assists while Fix, another of the "Ducks," had a goal and three assists.

Among the varsity newcomers, Ricky Lucero had two goals and one assist while Jacob Coon and Albert Villalobos each scored twice and Bryan Mikels and Lance Watkins each scored once. Goalie Mitch Seeley had 11 saves.

The younger players stole the spotlight in the win against Castle Park on Oct. 12. Justin Trinidad had two goals along with Mikels while Villalobos, Watkins and Lucero each scored once. Chism (two goals, two assists) and Felix (two goals, one assist) keyed the veterans. Ian Barnes had a goal and assist. Seeley (11 saves) and Coon (10 saves) shared patrol duty in the cage.

David LeDuc had both goals for the first-year Crusaders, who fell to 0-2 in league play, 0-3 overall, after a prior setback against Mar Vista.

Otay Ranch opened the season with an 8-7 loss to Mar Vista and there was widespread belief among the Hilltop program that the team would be in for a challenge. But after a slow start, the Ducks slowly built momentum in the Oct. 13 game to win by eight goals.

The team’s veterans keyed the victory, with Felix (four goals, two assists), Boyle (three goals, three assists), Fix (one goal, two assists) and Chism (three assists) combining for nine of the team’s 12 goals. Villalobos also contributed with two goals and one assist while Lucero and Barnes each scored once. Seeley ruled the waves in goal with 23 saves.

Ryan Castro and Danny Inzunza were credited with two goals each for Otay Ranch, which was coming off a 10-9 loss to La Jolla Country Day after drilling Chula Vista 21-4 the previous day in another non-league game.

Hilltop’s newfound surge started with, of all things, a loss — 12-9 to Eastlake at Southwestern College on Sept. 28. There were some breakdowns that, by Salts’ count, led to five Titans goals. Otherwise, Salts felt his team showed some of its best stuff in quite a while, calling the game "the best overall team water polo" he had seen his squad play the entire year.

"In fact, I would say that is the most solid fundamental water polo I have ever seen them play," the Hilltop coach said.

"I am so proud of these guys for pulling it all together. Oh, yeah, and we lost. You don’t usually hear that from the losing coach, but these guys played great! Eastlake has an outstanding water polo program; they have invested in their guys and it definitely showed in their play."

Specifically, Salts pointed to the inspired play of Boyle in helping turn around the team’s season.

"I think we got Garrett Boyle back to playing the water polo he was known for — being aggressive on defense, stealing the ball left and right, and constantly finding the gap in the opposing teams’ defense and exposing that with his quickness," the Hilltop skipper said.

Boyle’s aggressive play showed on the score sheet with five steals, four intercepted passes and five goals.

Salts also credited Seeley with a solid game, though he ended up with just nine saves.

Hilltop used the 32-team Poway Invitational as a gauge to get itself in gear after just winning one game. "We took time to really work on swimming and bring up our endurance and though a few practices won’t turn things around, they will be the foundation that will lead us to a point where we can finish matches strong," Salts said.

Come what may this season, Hilltop appears to have the making of a solid foundation for the coming seasons.

"I am very excited for the future of water polo at Hilltop with the up and coming underclassmen," Salts said. "We have some exciting players coming up in the next couple of years. We have a couple of strong juniors who are going to really make an immediate impact next year and an incredible sophomore class coming back. Our freshman class is large and strong and is soaking up the fundamentals at an alarming rate. Our numbers (38 on the roster a month into the season) are consistent with the last few years."

Trojan War II

Chula Vista and Castle Park paired up for the schools’ second annual rivalry game on Monday, dubbed "Trojan War II," with the Spartans defeating the Trojans for the second consecutive season. Chula Vista captured this year’s matchup by a 14-7 score as Heath McNerney racked up seven goals, four assists and 10 steals.