SD Prep Sports

SD Prep Sports: Roller Hockey

South Bay League Report:
Who’s on top? Mariners even series with Otay Ranch
Mariners, Mustangs appear headed for league co-championship

By Phillip Brents
Posted Feb. 1, 2006

Wednesday’s South Bay League roller hockey game between Otay Ranch and Mar Vista high schools was billed as the "game of the year" and it lived up to every bit of those expectations as defending league champion Mar Vista won an apparent share of this year’s title by defeating the upstart Mustangs, 4-2, at Skate San Diego.

Both teams have one league loss and one tie between them, ending their three-game series tied 1-1-1. Otay Ranch had taken the first encounter by a 6-4 score on Dec. 14 before the teams played to a 6-6 draw on Jan. 10 to set up the climactic rubber game on Wednesday.

An Otay Ranch victory would have given the Mustangs outright possession of this season’s South Bay League championship.

Mar Vista coach Ron Cole was the most animated among the winning Mar Vista group. “You played the game of your lives. Give yourselves a hand,” Cole told his victorious squad after the face-paced and thrill-a-minute game. “Everybody played well.”

“It was a tough game. Both goalies were awesome,” Otay Ranch head coach Lyn Dyer said.

Dyer was right on both counts. With both teams possessing some of the fiercest offensive firepower in the CIF/Metro Conference, the outcome was determined largely by the ability of both teams to play defense. Defense, of course, starts at the back with goaltender. Both teams also are blessed this season with two of the standout netminders in the South County: Mike Gisi for Mar Vista and Victor Holland for Otay Ranch.

Both stood on their head in more than the figurative sense in Wednesday’s high-profile match-up, with acrobatic saves taking the spotlight with each rush. Gisi was on his back in one instance. Otay Ranch players still must be scratching their heads as to how the puck didn’t go in.

The Mustangs entered the game averaging 10.7 goals per game this season while Mar Vista was averaging 9.4 goals per game. However, the score stood at 1-1 through the opening two periods as defenders slid to sacrifice their bodies and both goaltenders stood their ground between the pipes.

“At the beginning we both kind of let a soft one in. But then we stepped it up. It was back and forth. It was crazy,” Gisi said.

Mar Vista — facing a must-win situation — compiled a 22-15 shot advantage. Gisi finished with 13 saves while Holland had 18. The Mariners finally captured the win on the strength of three third-period goals, including the final two in the final five minutes of the contest.

Cole named Gisi and defenseman Ian Nicklen as his team’s Players of the Game, with fellow junior Jeremy Tanaka receiving honorable mention honors. Nicklen, who is vying with both Tanaka and La Jolla’s Johnny Noris for top scoring honors in conference scoring, was a threat to score every time he touched the puck — even at midcourt. Nicklen finished the game with a goal and assist while Tanaka had two goals and one assist.

Tanaka was credited with what proved to be the game-winning goal, set up by Nicklen on a power play with 4:07 to play in the game to snap a 2-2 tie. Adrian Avalos got the insurance marker with 2:21 left by pouncing on a defensive giveaway and beating Holland one-on-one from point-blank range.

“We knew we all had to come out and play hard,” said Tanaka, who gave the Mariners (11-4-1 overall, 7-1-1 in league play) a critical 1-0 lead, assisted by Mike Ellison, just 3:45 into the contest.

After Otay Ranch (12-2-1 6-1-1) tied the score at 1-1 with 8:58 to play in the opening period on a goal by Matt Nafarrete, assisted by Angelo Seganti, Nicklen gave Mar Vista a 2-1 lead with three minutes gone by in the final period on a power play goal. Tanaka received credit for the assist on the Mariners’ final tally by Avalos, who collected what amounted to a centering feed on a mis-clearance.

“I have huge respect for Otay Ranch. Both teams played a great game. My team did exactly what I asked them to do, which was to play with intensity as well as keeping their wits. All I can say is that I am very proud of my team,” Cole said.

Though the second-year Mustangs never led in the game, they appeared ready to seize the game’s momentum after Adrian Rodriguez set up teammate Ricky Gutierrez for the game-tying goal with 6:06 left in the third period. The goal that leveled the contest at 2-2 came on the power play after Otay Ranch had been repeatedly denied throughout the game on the man-advantage.

The Mustangs, meanwhile, spent a good chunk of the middle period killing off a four-minute high-sticking penalty. “Killing a four-minute penalty can either jump-start you or tire you out. I think it may have tired us out,” Otay Ranch assistant coach Mark Holland said.

For the game, the Mustangs were charged with six penalties while Mar Vista was assessed four. The Mariners killed three of their man-down situations while Otay Ranch killed four of its six penalties.

For the season, both teams recorded a two-goal victory against the other while playing to a deadlock in another. “The way both teams seem so even, we should be co-champions,” Mark Holland said.

The Kiwanis Cup playoffs should provide the ultimate test for both teams against elite North County competition. Otay Ranch owns a 3-2 victory over Vista, the fifth-place team in the six-team North County League with a 6-7-1 overall record. Mar Vista finished 0-3 in its inter-league match-ups against North County League teams at the start of the season, though dropping a 4-3 setback to Rancho Bernardo, currently fourth in the North County League standings with a 9-5-1 overall record.

Mar Vista lost 10-2 to Westview and 9-1 to two-time defending Kiwanis Cup champion Scripps Ranch while Otay Ranch dropped an 8-3 decision to Scripps Ranch.

Poway tops the conference with a 13-1-1 record, followed by Westview at 12-4-1, Otay Ranch at 12-2-1, Scripps Ranch at 10-2-2, Mar Vista at 10-4-1, La Jolla Country Day at 10-3-1 and Rancho Bernardo at 9-5-1.

North County League teams finished 28-2-0 in 30 inter-league match-ups. West Hills — the last-place team in the North County League with a 0-10 record — lost by just two goals to Otay Ranch. However, if both Mar Vista and Otay Ranch can match the intensity displayed on the court on Wednesday, the playoffs could yet take a South County turn.

South Bay League notepad
Otay Ranch owns a +20 goal-differential in the goaltending department should any tie-breaker be needed to determine playoff seeding.

Hilltop took over fourth-place in the league standings with an 11-2 win against Southwest on Wednesday. Ruben Benavides and Austin McDonald led the Lancers (3-3-1 in league play, 6-8-1 overall) each with hat tricks.