SD Prep Sports

SD Prep Sports: Roller Hockey

2005 CIF/Metro Conference Report
Vikings' top Titans, put chase back into Mesa League race

NATIONAL CITY, Jan. 18, 2005 -- The Eastlake Titans’ bid for a Mesa League title this season has suddenly been put in “must-win” mode after Wednesday’s 12-7 loss to La Jolla at Skate San Diego in National City. Considered the favorite to claim this year’s league title, the 2005-06 league campaign has instead turned into one of catch up for Eastlake, which lost for the second time in league play after holding a sizable lead midway through a game.

“We’ve still got a young team. We need to learn how to protect a lead,” said Titan head coach Jeff Mechling, whose squad led 6-3 early in the second period. “Once we learn how to protect a lead, we’ll be all right.”

The Titans held a pair of two-goal leads on defending league champion Bonita Vista only to fall 5-4 in the team’s league opener on Jan. 9. Eastlake rematches twice more with the Barons and once more with the upstart Vikings, who came up one goal short in their initial encounter with Bonita Vista, 11-10, on Jan. 12.

In league games through Jan. 18, Bonita Vista topped the standings with a 3-0 record, followed by La Jolla at 3-1 and Eastlake at 2-2.

Johnny Noris took over the CIF/Metro Conference scoring lead by racking up eight goals and one assists for La Jolla, which rallied with five second-period goals to take an 8-7 lead into the final period. The Vikings added four unanswered goals in the third period to secure the upset win.

Nick Whaley registered five points on three goals and two assists while Vikings teammate Matt Cox contributed a goal and an assist. Noris scored La Jolla’s first seven goals.

Eastlake, which jumped to a quick 2-0 lead in the game and ended the opening period with six goals, seemed to slow its pace after an injury to defenseman Andrew Abuyo 2:21 into the middle period. The loss compounded a situation that already saw the Titans missing three other key performers.

“Andrew got hurt. We seemed to slow down after that. We got wore out at the end,” Mechling said.

Nathan Scharmann and Casey Shotwell each scored twice to lead Eastlake (5-6 overall) while the Titans also received single goals from Chris Sexton, Luc Ruiz and Abuyo in the loss