With a 4-2-0 start in its first six games, the Otay Ranch High School roller hockey team has, in the words of coach Lyn Dyer, "exceeded all expectations."

"The boys are improving by leaps and bounds," said Dyer, who is assisted by trainer Mike Duffey, goaltender coach Mark Holland and equipment manager Lance Dyer. "Coach Duffey has really put them through a lot of rigorous workouts. They’re starting to play as a team, pass more and keep their heads up."

For a first-year program still without a senior class, Dyer said goals were modest for the team’s inaugural season. The Mustangs coach said he wanted to focus on basic tactics of the game, as only a few players on the roster had extensive experience in the game. Areas of focus included power play and defense, including penalty killing.

"And a lot of shooting," Dyer said.

Otay Ranch’s first season will consist of 20 regular season games, plus any playoff contests. Twelve of the Metro Conference’s 18 teams (10 in the South Bay and eight in North County) will qualify for post-season play. The Mustangs play alongside Mar Vista, Hilltop, Castle Park and Southwest in the South Bay League.

The Mesa League consists of Bonita Vista, Eastlake, Montgomery, Sweetwater and Chula Vista. The new North County League is comprised of defending conference champion Scripps Ranch, La Jolla Country Day, La Jolla, Vista, Poway, Rancho Bernardo, Westview and the San Diego Jewish Academy. The latter five teams were admitted this season along with Otay Ranch.

In order to be competitive, Dyer has set a goal to formalize two solid lines on the team — a luxury on South County many squads. "Our goal our first season is to be one of the top three teams in our division," the Mustangs coach said.

The teams’ first official game on Nov. 30 started out very tentative for the first-year squad, with South Bay League rival Mar Vista taking a 5-1 lead before the Mustangs regrouped in the second period to outplay a very experienced and seasoned Mariners team over the balance of the game, save perhaps, for the final couple minutes when fatigue finally caught up to the young Otay Ranch squad as Mar Vista claimed a 12-6 victory.

The Mustangs twice narrowed the score to within two goals — at 7-5 and 8-6 — before the Mariners closed out the contest with four unanswered goals.

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

"New school. No seniors. First game," Dyer said.

Adrian Rodriguez, a member of the USA under-16 national team and the squad’s obvious prized centerpiece, 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. He would finish the game with two goals and two assists.

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 first-year team won for the first time in its next game, skating past Chula Vista, 15-0, in a cross-league game and then netted its first league win in its third game, a 12-1 victory against defending South Bay League champion Castle Park. The Mustangs’ winning streak reached three games on Dec. 9 when Otay Ranch delivered the first big upset of the season by defeating Hilltop by a 7-5 score. In doing so, the Mustangs showed some genuine resiliency by coming back from an early 3-1 deficit. A fourth consecutive win — 16-0 against Southwest — had the team brimming with confidence.

Otay Ranch 15, Chula Vista 0
Confidence began to show its reward in the team's next game as the Mustangs recorded their first win in school history by defeating Chula Vista, 15-0, in a cross-league game on Dec. 2 (Chula Vista is a member of the Mesa League).
Rodriguez keyed the victory with seven goals and two assists while Nafarrete added four goals and one assist. Defensively, the netminding duo of Josh Santos and Victor Holland recorded the first shutout in school history.

Otay Ranch used a strong start in the opening period to even its record at 1-1 by building a 9-0 lead to take command of the game early and set the game's tempo. Josh Donaldson contributed a goal and assist while Walker, Angelo Seganti and James Boucree each scored one goal as six Mustangs picked up either a goal or assist in the contest.

"What was cool about this win was that everybody got to play a lot. They all worked hard," Dyer said.

Rodriguez set school records for most goals scored in one game (7) and points (9). He opened the game with five consecutive goals, also a new school record.

Otay Ranch 12, Castle Park 1
The "firsts" kept rolling in as the Mustangs claimed their first-ever league victory on Dec. 7 — a day that will not live in infamy — by skating past the Trojans, last season’s South Bay League champion. Nafarrete (five goals, one assist) and Rodriguez (four goals, two assists) keyed the history-making win each with six points while Walker contributed one goal and two assists.

"A little more team work, a little more passing," Dyer said in reference to the team’s second consecutive victory.

Otay Ranch 7, Hilltop 5
The upstart Mustangs remained on the upward curve after recording a stunning defeat of an established Hilltop squad on Dec. 9 to roll to their third straight win. Down by a 3-1 score midway through the first period, Otay Ranch began its comeback to lead 5-3 by the end of the period and continued its strong showing over the remaining two periods to record its third consecutive victory.

Rodriguez leadership skills were admirably displayed on the court has he had a part in all seven Otay Ranch goals with three goals and four assists. He scored the team's initial goal and assisted on the next three before scoring his second goal to give the Mustangs a 5-4 lead at the end of the opening period. Rodriguez set up what proved to be the game-winning goal scored by Nafarrete with 4:17 to play in the second period. Rodriguez then added an unassisted insurance goal with the Mustangs defending a narrow 6-5 lead.

Nafarrete had a hat trick while Ruben Gomez scored one goal and one assist. Another contributing factor to the upset win was defense. Holland allowed one goal after relieving Santos between the pipes midway through the game.

"They just played real hard. They played tough defense," Dyer said. "We’ve been working on defense in practice. Our shooting has also improved."

Otay Ranch 16, Southwest 0
The Mustangs continued to show their emerging team depth by taking a 4-0 lead against Southwest before Rodriguez even set foot on the court in the team's ensuing contest. Otay Ranch rolled to a 16-0 win against the Raiders as three players — Boucree, Josh Donaldson and Nafarrete — racked up hat tricks in the game. Donaldson keyed the offense with three goals and three assists while Rodriguez contributed two goals and four assists. Nine players had at least one goal or assist in the contest, with Walker, Seganti, Christian Olivares and Gomez also collecting goals.

With a 4-1 record and four consecutive wins, Otay Ranch was obviously more than a one-man team, as some had predicted before the season started.

Rodriguez and a bunch of novices?

Baloney!

To the Mustangs’ credit, opponents began to seriously worry about the upstart squad and its potential impact on the league standings.

At least that was the view taken by undefeated Mar Vista in its second league matchup against Otay Ranch on Dec. 16. The Mariners were inspired to put together perhaps their best-ever game effort in school history to down the Mustangs by a score of 12-2 in the last game prior to the holiday break.

While Dyer had no comment on the loss — another upset win could have positioned Otay Ranch for a possible co-championship — the Mariners’ desire to elevate their game to three full periods of high-energy play should be seen as a tribute to how far the fledgling Mustangs had come in less than a third of the season.

"We felt that this would be a difficult game for us. We knew that Otay Ranch would be gunning for us to avenge that first game. We felt we had to play our best to win. I asked our players to play their best and to give me an early Christmas present — a win — and they did. I was proud they kept up their energy throughout the game and kept their heads up all three periods. I have to give respect to Otay Ranch. They’re a great team. The scoreboard does not reflect how good a team Otay Ranch really is," said Cole, whose team improved to 6-0-0.

Rodriguez entered the week as the conference’s top scorer. Though he finished with a brilliant goal in the game against Mar Vista by weaving through the entire Mariner defense and firing a shot while being leveled, he was limited on the score sheet by both aggressive defense and the equally brilliant play of Mariner netminder Mike Gisi, whose quick glove save on a low liner ticketed for the corner struck by Rodriguez was the stuff reserved for the proverbial highlight reel.

"Our player of the game was Marcos Rodriguez," Cole said. "Here’s a sophomore who played defense on Adrian, who played defense on the best player in the league."

Sounds like the Mustangs have already earned their fair share of respect.

That Dyer will gladly take — as well as a playoff berth.