SD Prep Sports

SD Prep Sports: Roller Hockey

Championship series a new one for Mesa, South Bay League giants

Bonita Vista-Eastlake, Otay Ranch-Mar Vista match-ups slated for three-game series to decide championship banner rights in 2005-06

By Phillip Brents
Posted Jan. 11, 2006

The CIF/Metro Conference roller hockey schedule just somehow seems to have its quirks and this season is no exception. Teams in both the South Bay League and Mesa League will meet their league rivals either three times or twice this season, but not the same number of times each. However, the number of league games will add up to the same for all the teams in each league.

As fate has deemed it, the two leaders in both the South Bay League and Mesa League will square off in what amounts to a best-of-three series. Round 2 in the South Bay League between the defending league champion Mar Vista Mariners and preseason favorite Otay Ranch Mustangs ended in a 6-6 stalemate on Tuesday, setting up a third meeting on Feb. 1 that could shape up either as a winner-take-all match-up (for the Mustangs) or a chance to tie for a co-championship (for the Mariners).

In Monday’s opener of this year’s Mesa League championship series, the defending league champion Bonita Vista Barons staged a late comeback to shock the preseason favorite Eastlake Titans, 5-4, to put the Titans in a must-win situation in the teams’ ensuing two match-ups.

“My boys got what it takes,” Mar Vista coach Ron Cole said with pride after the Mariners — defeated 6-4 by Otay Ranch in the teams’ initial meeting on Dec. 14 — out-hustled and generally out-played the Mustangs, capitalizing on nearly every miscue to courageously rally back from three one-goal deficits to deadlock the contest on Ian Nicklen’s rebound goal with 1:52 to play.

“All I can say is that we’ll come out to play our very best game (next time),” Cole said.

In a game that saw Mar Vista (5-4-1 overall, 1-1-1 league) jump out to an early lead but later turned into a speedy back-and-forth battle, Otay Ranch had taken a 6-5 lead just 37 seconds beforehand on a nifty goal by Matt Nafarrete.

Jeremy Tanaka racked up a first-period hat trick to earn Mar Vista's Player of the Game honors as the Mariners scored on a power play, defensive turnover in front of the Mustang net and a short-handed goal to take a 3-2 first period lead.

“Jeremy played smart, played hard and did everything he was asked to do,” Cole said.

“We just played all out. It has to be the same next time if we want to keep the banner,” said Tanaka, whose hat trick was matched by Nicklen, his cousin.

Otay Ranch, which was keyed by a pair of goals each by Jonathan Reyes and Adrian Rodriguez, failed to convert on a two-man power play late in the game, whereupon the Mariners bounced back with a huge momentum-shifting power play goal to tie the contest at 5-5.

The Mustangs, who had not taken the court since Dec. 15 because of the winter break and a bye the previous week, finished the final 52 seconds of the game on a power play but could not cash in. Otay Ranch finished with a 17-15 edge in shots to display the otherwise evenness of play.

“We want to beat them next time,” said Mustangs assistant coach Mark Holland, who saw Otay Ranch up its overall record to 8-1-1 (2-0-1 in league) following Wednesday’s 6-0 shutout victory against Hilltop. "Compared to last year where we were against them — 0-2 — I’m taking this right now."

Bonita Vista, which entered Monday’s contest at Skate San Diego in National City with a 1-8 record after playing what may be the toughest schedule in the conference (10 of the top 11 teams), recovered from an initial 3-1 deficit through a gritty display of defensive teamwork and opportunistic goal-scoring.

Blake Tanner's goal with 1:26 remaining snapped a 4-4 tie to give the Barons the upset victory after Eastlake (3-5-0) had controlled the game early, holding a 4-2 lead on Jonathan Williams’ second goal of the game with 1:26 left in the second period.

But the Barons, playing a scrappy game, slowed down the tempo of the contest considerably to their advantage. BV goaltender Cody Mazzarella shut out the Titans in the pivotal third period while the Barons scored three times to escape with the win.

Offensively, the Barons were powered by two goals each by Tanner and Eric Enciso, while grinders Willy Anderson (one of the more feisty players in the conference) and Steven Micallef (a freshman who has begun to take on a key role this season) keyed the defense.

“We were up there with having the toughest schedule to start the season. We wanted to find a way to do something with the rest of our season by playing well in league,” Bonita Vista coach Keith Quigley said. “Cody had a great game. He had some solid saves. But on defense, we had to step up and we displayed some hard work and hustle out there.”

“On paper you think you’re the better team, but you’ve got to go out and play the game,” Eastlake coach Jeff Mechling said succinctly.

The teams rematch Jan. 26 and Feb. 14.