SD Prep Sports

SD Prep Sports: Roller Hockey

Chad McElroy: Standing tall for Titans

By Phillip Brents
Posted Feb. 19, 2004

Eastlake High senior Chad McElroy has seen the proverbial “good, bad and the ugly” as a four-year member of the school’s roller hockey team. Fortunately for the Titan forward, the memories he will take with him once his high school playing career is finished will mostly be of the good variety.

Particularly, his senior season.

Eastlake set a school record for wins in one season with a regular season record of 16-4-0. Last year, the Titans finished 12-8-0. The season before that, Eastlake was 11-8-1.

The Titans have made it to all four previous Kiwanis Cup playoffs, earning a berth in this year’s tournament by virtue of their second-place finish in the Mesa League standings to two-time league champion Scripps Ranch.

The Falcons finished the regular season with a 20-0-0 record to become the first high school team in San Diego County history to record 20 victories in one season.

McElroy is one of three four-year seniors on Eastlake, joining teammates Scott Powers and Justin Rodriguez. All three are members of the Metro Conference's exclusive first graduating class: players who have competed in all four years of the CIF-sanctioned circuit’s existence.
McElroy said he’s been grateful for the chance to play in the novel high school loop.

“It’s kept me involved in hockey. It's taken me to new levels. From a freshman, I learned how good I could be. I joined tournaments and started playing there,” he said.

A native of Rhode Island, McElroy moved to California in 1994. Ironically, he never played hockey back East where the sport is king but started in house leagues at Chula Vista RollerSkateLand.

He has worn the captain’s letter on his jersey the past two seasons. “I kind of keep my teammates under control. I try to go out and pass on a good example to the team. I want to try to be a nice guy — not strict where they’ll all hate me. I want to be their friend but I also want them to respect me at the same time,” he said.

Eastlake head coach Jeff Mechling called McElroy “an excellent role model on and off the rink.”

“He's a good student. He’s more of a quiet leader. He leads by example. He’s a complete player for us. He’s great with his defense and he’s one of the top forwards in the league. It’s been a privilege coaching him for four years,” Mechling said.

McElroy finished the Titans' 20-game regular season with 34 goals and 29 assists to rank second in team scoring behind Powers (43 goals, 28 assists). McElroy ranked second in goals and first in assists.

He was trailed in the team scoring table by his younger brother Zach McElroy, who tallied 27 goals and 18 assists in his debut freshman season.

Last season, Chad totaled 25 goals and 11 assists. The obvious question: does little brother have something to prove?

“I don't look at it as competition. It’s great having another good player out there,” the older McElroy brother said.

“It’s competition,” the younger McElroy interjected, smiling.

Circumstance happened to find the elder McElroy at the right time. Eastlake had fielded a club team the previous season before he entered high school. The sport became an official CIF sport his freshman season, however.

“That’s when it started growing. The next year a couple new teams (Scripps Ranch and La Jolla Country Day) joined and this year La Jolla joined. Next year, we might have some North County teams join. It would make it really competitive,” McElroy said.

“Starting as a freshman really helped. It made me see where I was and how I could get better,” he said. “We've gotten better (as a team) every single year.”

Together, McElroy and Powers combined for 77 goals and 57 assists. The goal total represented nearly half the Titans’ offensive output this season.

The two have played together since the eighth grade. They have both been selected to be part of the Metro's first-ever All-Star Game as representatives of the Mesa League. The all-star contest is scheduled March 1 at 5:30 p.m. at Skate San Diego in National City.

“We used to play different positions, so I didn’t get to know him well at first. My sophomore year, we joined a tournament team. That’s when we started getting the chemistry going. It’s made our friendship better. When I’m out on the floor with him, I know what he’s going to do 100 percent of the time.”

Eastlake finished tied for the second-best overall record in the 12-team Metro Conference, trailing Mesa League champion Scripps Ranch and tied with South Bay League champion Castle Park (16-4-0).

The Titans fought Scripps Ranch down to the last second in the teams' first encounter on Jan. 8, dropping a 4-3 decision. The Falcons emerged on top 7-1 in the rematch on Feb. 12 after taking a 6-0 lead.

The Titans could find themselves in a rematch in the Kiwanis Cup tournament, scheduled Feb. 23-24 and 26 at Skate San Diego.

“Our main goal at the start of the season was to win a league banner. That’s out now but we’re starting out with a new goal for the playoffs — to win the Kiwanis tournament,” said McElroy, who had three goals and five assists in his team’s final regular season contest on Feb. 19, an 11-3 victory against Hilltop.

“A lot of our years had been rebuilding years. This year seemed like the year where we could win a championship,” McElroy said. “We’d like to think we can still win the tournament championship.”