SD Prep Sports

SD Prep Sports: Roller Hockey

CIF/Metro Conference 2004-05 Report

Mariners, Lancers roll out to fast starts

Mar Vista holds off Otay Ranch 12-6; Hilltop scores 23-0 blowout

By Phillip Brents

Photo: Ian Nicklen, Mar Vista, brings puck up court

NATIONAL CITY, Nov. 30, 2004 – Mar Vista head coach Ron Cole is being a bit more choosey with his words this season. "There are a lot of good teams in this league and we have our hands full. I have the utmost respect for every team in this league," Cole said after his Mariners escaped with a 12-6 victory against first-year Otay Ranch in a game much closer on the floor than the final score would indicate.

The Mustangs, playing in their first-ever game and without a senior class, recovered from a 5-1 first period deficit to essentially out-play Mar Vista for the balance of the contest –save, perhaps, for the final couple minutes when fatigue finally caught up to the young Otay Ranch squad.

After finally getting their wheels under them, the Mustangs narrowed the score twice to within two goals – at 7-5 and 8-6 – before the Mariners closed out the contest with four unanswered goals.

The game spoke volumes for both the potential and possibilities ahead of the new Otay Ranch entry.

"Definitely," said Mustangs head coach Lyn Dyer. "New school. No seniors. First game. Our goal our first season is to be one of the top three teams in our division."

Cole has to be equally optimistic about his team which came within an overtime goal of advancing to the semifinals of last year’s Kiwanis Cup tournament. Mar Vista opened the game against Otay Ranch with a pair of unanswered goals. Adrian Avalos notched the first Mariners goal of the season 30 seconds into the contest and Trevor Stutzman followed with an unassisted goal with 3:10 elapsed for the early 2-0 lead.

Adrian Rodriguez, a member of the USA under-16 national team scored the first goal in school history for the Mustangs with 7:50 remaining in the first period. He did it in trademark fashion by taking the puck around the back of his own net, skating up the side, deftly evading a defender and letting go with a slap shot that bulged the back of the net midway up from the floor.

The Mariners added three more goals to end the period and opened the second stanza with a fourth unanswered goal (short-handed, in fact) to lead 6-1. It appeared as if Otay Ranch’s debut might be a long night until A.J. Walker notched the Mustangs’ second goal in school history with 5:02 to play in the period. Suddenly bristling with self-confidence, the Otay Ranch skaters turned the tables on their opponent as Matthew Nafarrete reeled off the first natural hat trick in school history, scoring twice in a span of 21 seconds to make the score 7-4 and then adding a third consecutive goal 1:14 later to trim the Mar Vista lead to 7-5.

Nafarrete’s three goals came in a span of 1:35. "I knew I was going to do well but I didn’t think I would get a hat trick," he said.

The only downer to the middle period for the Mustangs was giving up a goal to the Mariners’ Jeremy Tanaka with three seconds left on the clock to make the score 8-5. Otay Ranch quickly got that back, however, when Rodriguez got his second goal of the game just 28 seconds into the final period to bring the Mustangs to within two goals at 8-6.

Photo: Otay Ranch's initial goalscorers, from left, Matthew Nafarrete (first hat trick), Angelo Seganti (two assists) and Adrian Rodriguez (first goal).

But three goals by Ian Nicklen and another by Tanaka proved too much for the first-year squad to bear as Mar Vista regained the upper hand on the scoreboard. "We had a few defensive lapses in the second period but we seemed to pull it back together in the third," Cole said.

Nicklen was credited with five goals and one assist in the game while Tanaka was credited with four goals and an assist and Stutzman tallied a game high seven points on one goal and six assists. Cole gave his team’s MVP award for the game to Avalos, who finished the matchup with two goals and earned the distinction of scoring on his first shot in his first high school game.

Hilltop 23, Southwest 0

The Lancers received four goals from a quartet of players -- Brian and Kevin Mark, Austin McDonald and Cory Garvin -- and a hat trick from Nick Donahue in easily downing the Raiders. Hilltop led 12-0 after the first period.

Kevin Mark led the Lancers with four goals and four assists while Garvin tacked on four goals and three assists and Donahue had three goals and three assists. McDonald celebrated his high school debut with four goals and one assist for five points.

Bonita Vista 18, Castle Park 0

The Barons fired 60-plus shots at the Trojans, who suffered one of the worst drubbings -- if not the worst -- in school history. James Arakaki, last year's Metro Conference scoring champion, helped lead the rout with six goals and four assists. He was one of four Barons to record hat tricks in the game along with teammates Blake Tanner, Eric Enciso and Brent Nash. Kelly Nash had a spectacular high school debut as she was credited with two goals and five assists. Cody Mazzarella recorded the shutout win.

"I like our depth this year. I think we have a core of two solid lines. In past years, we had one solid line and two strong players on the second line. One of the nice things is that we have eight or nine returning players. We have lots of sophomores and a few freshmen. We only have two seniors," said Bonita Vista coach Keith Quigley, whose team advanced to the semifinals of last season's Kiwanis Cup tournament.

Brent Nash played for the Barons as a freshman before the family moved out of the area. During that time, younger sister Kelly had a chance to compete at the highest club levels while honing her game. "Both of them will have a strong effect on the team," Quigley said. "They'll bring more depth. Both of them have a lot of experience to bring to the game. That's nice to have."