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2006-07 Winter Sports
Metro Conference

Roller Hockey

2006-07 Winter Face-Off: Long live the queen!
BV's Kelly Nash returns to the court -- and scores

Posted Nov. 30, 2006
Hilltop coach Dan Vaccaro has seen the sport of high school roller hockey rise on its skates from the start of the Lancers’ club team more than a decade ago. Hilltop has since graduated to play in the CIF/Metro Conference and Vaccaro was one of the leading movers and shakers in the founding of the ground-breaking circuit. He has pledged at least one more year to the sport, and could be coaching Hilltop’s best-ever team talentwise this season.

“It’s great that it’s still going,” Vaccaro said after watching his team skate out to a 6-4 lead on Otay Ranch, last year’s South Bay League co-champion, before absorbing a 10-6 defeat at the hands of the crafty Mustangs Tuesday at Skate San Diego in National City.

Vaccaro has seen the sport grow locally from his own club team that included his son, to three other area schools fielding teams at the club level to the original nine Sweetwater district schools comprising the CIF/ Metro Conference.

The CIF/Metro Conference has since grown to include 20 member schools.

At the beginning, Hilltop carried the torch for the sport. Now the competition has caught up — a good sign for the overall health of the sport.

“From top to bottom, this is absolutely the best group of skaters I’ve ever had,” Vaccaro said. “There aren’t any lightning rods like Paul Newell or Carl Horten, who are probably the two best players to come out of the South Bay. But this group has more talent through the ranks. The down side about this group is that it’s hard to keep them motivated. We don’t seem to play the third period. We’ve got to be able to do that because there are some pretty darn good teams in the South Bay now. Mar Vista has a good team. Otay Ranch showed they can obviously play and Bonita Vista has always had a strong program.”

Despite the progress that area teams have made in developing homegrown talent, Vaccaro wishes what he calls the infrastructure among South County schools was better organized. Montgomery withdrew from competition last year while it appears that Sweetwater may not field a team this season.

“The north schools seem to have better infrastructure,” Vaccaro said.

But the sport is still rolling along, thanks in large part to Vaccaro’s original push more than a decade ago.

Long live the queen
Kelly Nash, a future hopeful to make the women’s Olympic ice hockey team, returned to the high school roller hockey court after a year off to test herself in girls basketball. She missed Bonita Vista’s season opener on Monday because of travel commitments while playing in a Thanksgiving weekend tournament in Minnesota with her ice hockey team, the under-19 Cal Selects.

Nash, who was voted the best forward on the Cal Selects last season, made up for lost time by scoring six goals and two assists in Wednesday’s 14-0 non-league victory against Southwest.

There has never been a female scoring leader in the history of the CIF/Metro Conference. Could Nash be the first?
“I’m shooting for it,” she said following Wednesday’s season debut.

Exciting things could be in store for Nash in the near future. She recently committed to attend the University of Wisconsin. There are indications that Wisconsin coach Mark Johnson could be in line to be the next USA women’s Olympic coach.
Johnson called the five recruits, who were allowed to sign national letters of intent during the early signing period, very skilled and “from a speed standpoint, one of the quickest classes we’ve ever recruited.”

Nash, who has attended four consecutive USA Hockey select camps, led the Cal Selects to the 2005 USA Hockey girls under-16 national championship and led all players in scoring a year later at the same tournament.

After being shut out 3-0 in Monday’s opener against West Hills, BV coach Keith Quigley was happy to welcome back Nash on the playing court.

“It was great. It’s awesome to have her back to be playing on the team, especially for her senior year,” Quigley said.
As for a preference, Nash said she liked ice and roller equally. “I think they both are really fun,” she said.

Her immediate goal after Wednesday’s game simply was to make ice hockey practice later that evening in Huntington Beach. She practices twice weekly in Huntington Beach and plays games on Sundays with the Cal Selects.

But the Barons are rarely far from her thoughts — or her heart.

“It was great to get back out there. It felt good. I want to help the team make the playoffs,” she said before zooming out of the rink for the freeway.

Puck drops
•Bonita Vista all-conference goaltender Cody Mazzarella appeared in top form in Monday’s season opener against West Hills. Bracing an under-manned squad, Mazzarella stopped nearly everything in sight in one of his more inspirational performances to date. West Hills scored single goals in each period to roll past Bonita Vista, though the Wolf Pack had to work hard to beat Mazzarella despite owning a vastly superior shot ratio. "He was stopping us from everywhere," West Hills coach Richard Lopez said in reference to Mazzarella's heroics between the pipes.

Andrew Delgadillo earned the honor of scoring the first goal of the 2006-07 season. The goal, which was assisted by Logan Boehm, came with five seconds remaining in the first period after Mazzarella had shut the door to that point in what can only be described as a shooting gallery in front of the Baron net. West Hills goaltender Cameron McIntyre was credited with two saves. Conservative estimates placed the Wolf Pack with 50 shots on the Bonita Vista net by contrast.

•Defending North County League champion Poway faced off its third season of CIF-sanctioned play as 11 players scored at least one goal and 16 players registered at least one point in Monday’s 23-0 win against Southwest. Three players finished with five points for Poway: Eric Eyler (3 goals, 2 assists), Trevor Cochran (3 goals, 2 assists) and Stephen Lockwood (2 goals, 3 assists).

•Mar Vista fought back from a 4-1 first-period deficit against defending Kiwanis Cup champion Westview in Tuesday’s season opening matchup between the teams to knot the score at 4-all entering the final period. However, the Wolverines rallied to skate off with a 6-4 victory. Ian Nicklen, last year’s conference scoring leader, was credited with all four Mariners goals. Eric Obinger had two goals and one assist to lead Westview, which returns just two of its top 10 players from last season.

•Matt Nafarrete had four goals and three assists and Zach Johnson added four goals to help propel Otay Ranch’s wild and entertaining comeback against Hilltop. Ricky Gutierrez added two goals and one assist for the Mustangs, who trailed 2-1 after the first period and coughed up four second-period goals to trail at one point 5-2 in the middle period. However, Otay Ranch regrouped and scored on eight of its next 13 shots. Gutierrez was credited with the eventual game-winning goal as the Mustangs finished three for six on the power play. Otay Ranch coach Mark Holland listed his team’s three stars as Nafarrete (first), Johnson (second) and defenseman Gabe Beddoes (third).

Ruben Benavides and Keloa Latimore were each credited with a pair of goals for Hilltop, which was outshot 11-2 in the third period after owning a 12-10 advantage in shots through two periods. Kevin Mark and Cory Garvin were credited with the Lancers’ other goals.

•Chula Vista rolled to an 8-3 win against Castle Park on Tuesday as captain Eric Tamayo scored two goals and one assist and Tony Laezza scored twice. The Spartans broke open the game with a run of six unanswered goals.

•St. Augustine, the CIF/Metro Conference’s newest member, saw the long and short of it in its opening two games. The Saints, who easily boast the best logo in high school roller hockey (a take-off on that worn by the WHA Minnesota Fighting Saints in the 1970s), defeated the San Diego Jewish Academy by a score of 30-0 in their official CIF-sanctioned debut on Monday. Junior Greg Park led the scoring parade with seven goals and seven assists, followed by sophomore Cameron Kayfish with three goals and five assists and freshman Daniel Deiters with three goals and four assists. Freshman Sam Thomas and sophomore Carter Pool each scored four goals while sophomore Trent Robinson had a hat trick in the history-making game.

Missing 11 of those 30 goals due to the absence of Park and Thomas in Wednesday’s matchup against red-hot West Hills — the early season nominee for most improved, and vastly so, team in the conference — St. Augustine fell by a 10-1 score.

Sophomore goalie Mick Hammock kept the Saints in the game, at least through the halfway mark, with 35 saves before the Wolf Pack began to attack in droves, scoring five third-period goals to ice the game. Andrew Delgadillo, Logan Boehm and Matt Gage each scored twice for undefeated West Hills (2-0). Pool had the lone goal for the Saints, who trailed 4-0 before finally managing to put some offensive pressure on West Hills netminder Cameron McIntyre (0.50 GAA in two games).

The Saints are fielding a young team this season with one senior, three freshmen, three sophomores and the rest juniors, according to coach Christian DaLuz. “Our goal is to be competitive in games and skate and get a flavor for what some of the elite teams look like,” DaLuz said. “It’s a young group. We’re excited. I think we can play better in the future.”

•Bonita Vista received four goals and one assist from Max Ramos in Wednesdays’ win against Southwest while teammate Ryan Veenstra racked up two goals and six assists. Daniel Ruelas had two goals and one assist while Nick Girard contributed four assists for the Barons (1-1). Justin Ross had a goal and assist for the winners.

High School roller hockey league expands to 20 teams
CIF/Metro Conferecne faces off ground-breaking 7th season

Posted Nov.27, 2006
A record 20 teams will take the floor when the Metro Conference, the state’s first officially CIF-sanctioned high school roller hockey circuit, faces off its seventh season on Nov. 27.

St. Augustine High School is the newest school to gain admittance into the ground-breaking league but is no newcomer to the sport after competing on and off for the better part of a decade in the club-based San Diego County High School Roller Hockey Conference.

The addition of the St. Augustine Saints has now more than doubled the conference’s original membership as the sport has gained a foothold among San Diego County high schools.

A brief history
The CIF/Metro Conference began in 2000-01 with nine schools in the founding Sweetwater Union High School District and has since expanded to include an additional school in the district as well as 10 out-of-district schools from throughout the county.

Original conference members included Bonita Vista, Castle Park, Chula Vista, Eastlake, Hilltop, Mar Vista, Montgomery, Southwest and Sweetwater high schools — all based in south suburban San Diego County. Teams played 14 regular season games in one division. The puck first dropped on the history-making circuit on Nov. 21, 2000, with Eastlake and Bonita Vista skating to a 4-4 tie. Hilltop won the first regular season title with an undefeated record of 13-01 while Bonita Vista defeated Hilltop, 5-4, to capture the first post-season Kiwanis Cup tournament title.

Scripps Ranch and La Jolla Country Day received permission to join the CIF/Metro Conference the following season and the conference split into two leagues: the Mesa League (for the larger enrollment schools) and the South Bay League (for smaller enrollment schools). The schedule was lengthened to 20 regular season games. Scripps Ranch, behind conference scoring leader Dan Comrie’s 105 points (61 goals, 44 assists), won the inaugural Mesa League title while Castle Park claimed the first South Bay League title. However, Bonita Vista upset Scripps Ranch, 3-2, in sudden-death overtime to win the Kiwanis Cup tournament championship in what many consider to be the defining moment that made the new sport stand on its own.

There were no additions to the conference muster roll the third season, but another upset win occurred in the Kiwanis Cup tournament finals as La Jolla Country Day — propelled by the standout play of Nathan Sigmund and Frankie Warren — defeated Scripps Ranch by a 7-5 score. Sigmund, who had four goals in the Kiwanis Cup title game, was named the CIF/Metro Conference MVP while Castle Park’s Donny McGraw established new conference regular season scoring records with 86 goals and 119 points.

La Jolla High School and the San Diego Jewish Academy increase membership to 13 teams. However, the buzzword for the CIF/Metro’s fourth year has to be the Year of the Falcons after Scripps Ranch defeated Eastlake, 8-4, in the Kiwanis Cup title game to end three years of post-season frustration. In doing so, the Falcons cemented their claim as the conference’s ongoing dynasty by recording a perfect 22-0-0 record (regular season and post-season combined). Meanwhile, the conference celebrated its fourth anniversary with its first All-Star Game as skaters from the South Bay League topped the Mesa League.

Five new schools gain entry into the conference, including four from outside the Sweetwater district, to hike membership to 18 teams for season No. 5. The newcomers included Poway, Rancho Bernardo, Vista and Westview from North County and Otay Ranch, the newest school to open in the Sweetwater district. The four North County schools are placed in the new North County League along with Scripps Ranch, La Jolla, La Jolla Country Day and the San Diego Jewish Academy. For the first time, the most competitive teams are now in the CIF/Metro Conference rather than in the San Diego County High School Roller Hockey Conference. League champions included Bonita Vista (Mesa League), Mar Vista (South Bay League) and Poway (North County League). Scripps Ranch defeated Poway, 2-1, in overtime to win its second consecutive Kiwanis Cup title — now officially sanctioned as the CIF/Metro Conference’s championship tournament. The North County All-Stars defeated the South County All-Stars by an 8-0 score in the conference’s second All-Star Game.

2005-06 recap
The North County League continued to dominate play in the conference’s sixth season with a two-year 66-10-2 record in non-league regular season play against teams from the competitively-weaker Mesa and South Bay leagues. West Hills from East County is granted membership to increase membership to 18 on-court teams (Montgomery does not participate this season). Poway wins the regular season North County League title while La Jolla — braced by the scintillating play of sophomore Johnny Noris — wins its first Mesa League title. Otay Ranch and Mar Vista tie for the top rung in the South Bay League, with Otay Ranch advancing as far as the Kiwanis Cup semifinals. A second All-North County League Kiwanis Cup final takes place but Westview upsets top-seeded Poway, 3-2, in overtime. In a revised format, the East defeats the West, 6-4, in the conference’s third All-Star Game.

Mar Vista’s Ian Nicklen (78 goals, 28 assists, 106 points) returns to defend his conference scoring title while Noris, who finished second to Nicklen last season by two points, is also back. Noris racked up 76 goals and 26 assists last season. Mar Vista’s Jeremy Tanaka, who finished third last season in conference scoring with 98 points (49 goals, 49 assists), also returns to make this year’s scoring race even more exciting.

New frontiers
Games for the 2006-07 season will continue to be played at three venues: the Escondido Sports Center, Skate San Diego (in National City) and the district-built outdoor rink at Castle Park High School.

St. Augustine will make its CIF debut with a game against the San Diego Jewish Academy Nov. 27 at the Escondido Sports Center.

The Saints will join the Mesa League lineup this season, giving the Mesa League and South Bay League each seven teams and the North County League six teams.

Bonita Vista, Chula Vista, Eastlake, La Jolla, Otay Ranch, St. Augustine and Sweetwater comprise the 2006-07 Mesa League. The 2006-07 lineup in the South Bay League includes Castle Park, Hilltop, La Jolla Country Day, Mar Vista, Montgomery, San Diego Jewish Academy and Southwest.

The North County League will once again be comprised of Poway, Rancho Bernardo, Scripps Ranch, Vista, West Hills and Westview.

West Hills will open its second season of CIF play with a game against Bonita Vista on Nov. 27. Bonita Vista is expected to welcome back the Metro’s First Lady of Hockey — Kelly Nash — after a one-year absence to try her game at high school basketball. Nash, who competes in ice hockey for the Cal Selects, is a hopeful for the U.S. Olympic women’s team. Nash earned honors as the Cal Selects’ 2005 Forward of the Year.

The Kiwanis Cup championship playoff tournament starts Feb. 20 and concludes with the title game on Feb. 28.

CIF/Metro Conference 2006-07 Coaches Poll

First place votes noted in parentheses