SD Prep Sports

SD Prep Sports: Roller Hockey

Sparks fly for Mar Vista frosh skater

By Phillip Brents
Posted Jan. 29, 2004

Jeremy Tanaka has been used to sparks flying around the San Diego Sports Arena while watching Gulls equipment manager Matt Mitchell sharpen skates. The Mar Vista freshman had a chance to produce some sparks of his own by scoring the game-winning goal in the Mariners’ 10-9 victory Jan. 22 against perennial power Hilltop.

Tanaka’s goal may stand up as the one that gets the Mariners — perhaps fielding their best team in school history — into this year’s Kiwanis Cup playoffs.

At right: Jeremy Tanaka watches as Gulls equipment manager Matt Mitchell sharpens a player's skate before a recent game at the Sports Arena.

Tanaka, who also works as a stickboy at Gulls home games, broke a 9-9 standoff between the two South Bay League combatants with a wraparound shot, skating from behind one side of the net to the other, to put Mar Vista ahead by a goal in the dying minutes of regulation play.

The Mariners, who improved their record to 4-1-0 in league play, 7-4-0 overall, had trailed by a sizable margin early in the game.

An experienced club player with the Chula Vista Hawks travel team, the young Tanaka took the celebrity status in stride.

“A goal is a goal. I’ve had a hat trick before. The first goal I scored in high school was better,” he said.

Through 13 games, Tanaka had contributed nine goals and five assists in the Mariners’ 8-5-0 start.

He is six points behind his cousin, Ian Nicklen (13 goals, 7 assists), also a freshman, who stands second overall in team scoring behind team leader Trevor Stutzman (14 goals, 14 assists).

Nicklen’s sister, Chelsea, is a standout cross country runner at Montgomery High School.

Both Tanaka and Nicklen have played together before as members of the Hawks, who have racked up one gold, one silver and two bronze medals in competition in the four California State Games tournaments. The Hawks made a name for themselves by finishing second in their division in the Tour Pacific Cup championship playoffs two years ago.

There is more to this hockey playing family, however.

Tanaka’s sister Tommyanne also plays for the Hawks, who are based out of Chula Vista RollerSkateLand. A younger brother, Tanner, and another cousin, Mark Rodriguez, play in house league games at RollerSkateLand.

Tanaka’s grandfather, Frank Clamser, who works as a locker room attendant with the Gulls, got Jeremy the stickboy job at the Sports Arena.

The boys said their goals for their first high school season were modest.

“Just get as many goals as possible and make yourself look good,” Ian said, adding a toothy smile that only a freshman can make and get away with.

Jeremy, after coughing up a laugh at his cousin’s remark, said the team’s success has helped sharpen everyone’s focus for the second half of the season. “We just want to try to get first, and get a banner in the gym,” he said.

The Jan. 22 win against Hilltop came in almost duplicate form to the teams’ first meeting in the opening game of the season on Dec. 1, also a 10-9 victory. In that game, Nicklen was credited with the game-winning goal as Mar Vista chipped away at an imposing early deficit on the scoreboard.

Tanaka did not wait long to make an impact on this year’s team. He picked up his first high school goal, as well as recording his first hat trick, in a 13-1 victory against La Jolla Country Day in the Mariners’ second game of the season on Dec. 4.
“I got may name in the paper and everything,” he said.

The top three teams in the league standings qualify for the upcoming playoffs. Mar Vista entered Thursday’s game against Sweetwater in first-place in the six-team South Bay League with a 5-2-0 league record — two points ahead of Castle Park (4-1-0, 11-3-0), four points ahead of both Hilltop (3-3-0, 5-7-0) and La Jolla (3-3-0, 6-5-1) and six points ahead of La Jolla Country Day (2-2-0, 4-6-1).

The Mariners’ playoff fortunes will likely be determined with two upcoming games against La Jolla, which also owns a victory against Hilltop, and a return meeting against La Jolla Country Day.

“We’re starting to get more disciplined. That’s something we’ve been working hard on,” Mar Vista coach Ron Cole said. “My feeling is that it’s really hard to beat any team twice — I don’t care who they are. I knew we had a tough time on our hands the last time. It was a one-goal game. I knew there were playoff implications. Both teams played well. There were not a lot of penalties. I take my hat off to Hilltop. We had to keep on our edge to keep up with them. It came down to the team that scored that last goal. I’m really proud of my team.”

Tanaka will celebrate his seventh season with the Gulls in February. He started helping his grandfather set up the visitors locker room but has since graduated to helping set up the Gulls locker room and bench before games and clean up afterward. Duties include filling water bottles and jugs, folding towels and arranging sticks on the bench. He can arrive as much as four hours before face-off to get everything in order.

Tanaka said he talks about his high school exploits with some of the Gulls players, including center/defenseman David Neale and right wing Clayton Read.

“I told Read about it and he said ‘Good job. Keep it up, buddy,’” Tanaka said with a smile.

Tanaka is one of five stickboys under Mitchell’s direction. Also back for another season are Trevor and Curtis Dietz, Derrick Dawson and Greg Dreischmeyer. Dreischmeyer plays club roller hockey for Pt. Loma High School while Dawson competed for Granite Hills’ club team.

“They’re all right,” Tanaka said in reference to his fellow stickboys, adding a grin, while seated with them at a pre-game meal at the Sports Arena.

The best part of the job? “Coming to the games,” the Mar Vista freshman said.

The Gulls moved into sole possession of first place in the ECHL’s seven-team Pacific Division after last Sunday’s 3-1 home ice victory against Bakersfield and solidified their hold on the division’s top spot with Tuesday’s 5-2 victory in Las Vegas (a loss would have brought the Wranglers into a first-place tie with San Diego). The Gulls will close out a three-game homestand that begins Thursday against Long Beach and continues with games Friday against Idaho and Saturday against Bakersfield in an attempt to build on their lead.

Tanaka, who has been party to two home ice Taylor Cup championships during his tenure with the Gulls, feels the team’s championship aspirations in the new 31-team national imprint league are good. “They have a great chance,” he