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2008 Prep Roller Hockey
San Diego Section
2008-09 Inaugural AIHL Season

Kiwanis Cup championship playoffs face off
It's Wolverines, Titans in Kiwanis Cup final

Posted March 5, 2009
During the first week of the 2008-09 CIF/Metro Conference season, Poway coach Dale Ingram tabbed his own squad, as well as that of North County League rival Westview, as the top two teams in the 16-team conference. His assessment indeed proved words of wisdom as the top-seeded Wolverines (20-2) and second-seeded Titans (17-4-1) advanced to this year's Kiwanis Cup championship game with surprisingly easy victories in their respective semifinal match-ups Monday night at the Escondido Sports Center.

Westview faced off the semifinal double-header with an 11-1 victory against fifth-seeded Eastlake while Poway closed out the night with a 7-1 win against third-seeded Rancho Bernardo.

Eastlake finished its season 15-7 after a quarterfinal-round upset of fourth-seeded Hilltop. Rancho Bernardo finished the season 14-7-1 after topping sixth-seeded Scripps Ranch in the quarterfinals.

Adam Durkee paced the Wolverines with five goals and one assist while Phil Sansone had four points on a goal and three assists, Shane Clements had two goals and one assist, Stephen McDowell had two goals and Kyle Clements scored once. The Wolverines skated to an early 3-0 lead and owned a 4-1 advantage after the first period. Westview closed out the game with eight unanswered goals, leading 8-1 entering the final period. Team captain Andrew Abuyo scored the only goal for Eastlake -- that coming in the first period to make the score 3-1.

Eric Eyler led Poway to its berth in the championship game by scoring three goals while Zach Vachris scored two goals, J.T. Landon and Luke Richards each scored one goal and Ryan Smith and Peter Crofts each had two assists.

Poway led 4-0 after the opening period and 5-0 before the Broncos could notch their only goal of the game, scored by Bryce Semonian with 6:26 to play in the second period.

Titans topple Lancers, 9-1, in quarterfinal stunner

Updated playoff bracket

Posted Feb. 25, 2009
The Hilltop High School roller hockey team, fresh off a Mesa League championship season and boasting a 15-5 overall record, took a 1-0 lead just 1:06 into Wednesday's Kiwanis Cup quarterfinal-round playoff game against league rival Eastlake. One would have thought the fourth-seeded Lancers would be flying high the rest of the game.

Nine unanswered goals later, the fifth-seeded Titans (15-6) skated off the court at Skate San Diego with a stunning -- if not stupefying -- 9-1 victory.

"It took 21 games, but all the little things that we had been asking the players to do all season, they did in this game," an obviously elated Eastlake coach Rone Torres said.

Senior captain Andrew Abuyo electrified the rink with an astounding individual performance by recording a double hat trick -- six goals and one assist. Three goals came on shorthanded breakaways.

"I could tell before the game that our guys were psyched up and ready," said Abuyo, who led the Titans in regular season scoring with 86 points on 37 goals and 49 assists. "We wanted revenge. We had something to prove to everyone -- that this team had the skill to win in the playoffs."

None the least of which was to Hilltop, which defeated Eastlake in two out of three match-ups in league play to capture the Mesa League championship.

Andrew Ries, who tallied 46 goals and 25 assists in 20 regular season games, put his team ahead on the game's jump goal. But Justin White responded with a goal for the Titans two minutes later to tie the score. Abuyo broke the stalemate with a wraparound goal with 3:31 left in the opening period as Eastlake took a 2-1 advantage.

The Titans scored four more goals in the second period to lead 6-1.

"We melted down on defense and Eastlake came to play tonight. That No. 17 (Abuyo) took it to us," Hilltop head coach Dan Vaccaro said. "These two teams had played three games before this and the first two were decided by one goal. Once the score got to be three-, four-, five-to-one, it got out of control. Hilltop didn't look like a championship banner team tonight."

Eastlake had fought through much adversity over the course of the season to finally get the upper hand in Wednesday's game. The Titans lost last season's first team all-league (and second team all-conference) goaltender, Jason Campbell, just weeks before the season started when Campbell decided to move out of town to play high-level ice hockey. Then, with just one week left in the regular season, Dante Patron -- then the team's second-leading point-scorer and perhaps the fastest player in the conference -- suffered a season-ending injury due to a broken leg in a weekend ice hockey game.

But, with most inspirational stories, the team banded together and won one not only for Torres but also for each other. Eastlake played with passion, focus and determination -- and for once, it seemed -- the puck bounced just right. The Titans also played smart hockey.

"After they got the first goal, I thought to myself 'Here it goes again,'" Torres said. "Regardless of who is injured, we have enough talented players to get the job done. Everyone came ready to play. It took 21 games but finally everyone bought into the system. We worked on our defense to take away the high passing lanes and the puck finally went the other way."

The playoff win was the first for Torres after taking over the team three years ago. White finished the game with a goal and assist. All his shots in the game were of the cannon variety -- and all were on target. Zach McMahon scored two big goals, the first making the score 5-1 and the second on a power play to make it 8-1. Jace White and Michael Oleata also picked up assists in the game.

Four of Abuyo's six goals were unassisted.

"We haven't had (a showing) like that in a long time," Torres said." I haven't seen anyone take over a game like Andrew did since Zack McElroy graduated."

Eastlake advances to play the top-seeded Westview Wolverines (19-2) in Monday's semifinals at the Escondido Sports Center. Face-off is 7:10 p.m.

The championship game is set for Wednesday at the same site.

"We got nine guys and we're going up against the 'Death Star,'" Torres said.

Somehow, he has to like those odds.

In other quarterfinal-round playoff games:

Rancho Bernardo 5, Scripps Ranch 4 (OT)
Feb. 25 at Escondido Sports Center: Bryce Semonian scored the game-winning goal with 2:10 left in overtime to lift the third-seeded Broncos (14-6-1) past the sixth-seeded Falcons (8-13). Scripps Ranch forced overtime on Robert Groarke's goal, assisted by Brandon Lopez, with 10 seconds to play in regulation. The Falcons led 1-0 after the first period on a goal by Aaron Peterson and owned a 2-1 edge midway through the second period on another goal by Peterson before Rancho Bernardo evened the score at 2-2 on a goal by Semonian with 5:08 left in the middle period. The teams traded goals in the third period, with the Falcons taking a 3-2 lead and the Broncos going up 4-3 on goals by Chris Clement and Cruz Major before Groarke sent the game into the extra period. Semonian led RB with two goals while Roman Mendoza scored one goal and Ryan Heidrich had two assists. Kyle Shaefer also was credited with one assist for the Broncos. Peterson led Scripps Ranch with a hat trick in the loss while Lopez had two assists. Steven Sherman and Christian Chang were also credited with assists for the Falcons.

Westview 17, La Jolla Country Day 2
Feb. 25 at Escondido Sports Center: Anthony Mata led the top-seeded Wolverines (19-2) with four goals and three assists while teammates Jason Kurth (three goals, two assists) and Adam Durkee (three goals, one assist) both registered hat tricks in the victory over the South Bay League champion Torreys (16-6). A total of eight players scored goals for North County League champion Westview, which opened up a 4-0 first period lead and led 10-1 heading into the final period. Dylon Dixon had two goals and two assists for the winners while Phil Sansone matched that with four points of his own on a goal and three assists. Kyle Clements had two goals and one assist, Eric Obinger had a goal and assist and Shane Clements was credited with one goal, also for Westview. Ben Sweeney and Cameron Sowka scored single goals for LJCD, which also got one assist from James Owsiany.

Poway 4, West Hills 0
Feb. 25 at Escondido Sports Center: J.T. Landon scored two goals and Zach Vachris contributed a goal and assist to lead the second-seeded Titans (16-4-1) past the seventh-seeded Wolf Pack (4-18). Poway led 3-0 after the first period on goals each by Vachris, Eric Eyler and Landon. Ryan Smith drew the assist on Landon's second goal in the second period. The third period finished scoreless.

Wolf Pack rolls to 13-1 first-round playoff win

Posted Feb. 23, 2009
It might not be entirely incorrect to call the 2008-09 CIF/Metro Conference roller hockey season a tale of two teams for the West Hills Wolf Pack; it certainly can be labeled a tale of two seasons -- regular season and post-season.

The Wolf Pack, 3-17 overall after a 0-15 last place showing in the brutally-tough North County League, faced off the Kiwanis Cup championship playoffs with a 13-1 victory over the 10th-seeded Bonita Vista Barons in Monday's opening round at Skate San Diego in National City.

The win advanced seventh-seeded West Hills to Wednesday's quarterfinal-round contest against second-seeded Poway (15-4-1 in regular season play).

Semifinal action continues March 2, with the championship game scheduled March 4.

“It's been a long, tough season,” Wolf Pack head coach Dennis Morris said after Monday's first-round playoff win. “Those teams up there (in the North County League) are tough. It's an honor to get to play them, but it doesn't show how good you are as far as wins and losses. Fortunately, we got to play against the stronger teams down here (Hilltop and Eastlake in the Mesa League and La Jolla Country Day in the South Bay League) and that's where our victories came from.”

Spencer Gaalaas and Jaron Beach each had three goals and one assist in Monday's playoff victory while Corey Dermondy had two goals and two assists, Donnie Keffer had two goals and one assist, Ricky Aylesworth had two goals and Kellen McManus contributed a goal and two assists.

Keffer, Beach, Gaalaas and Aylesworth all play ice hockey and are usually unavailable to play for the West Hills roller hockey team on Wednesday because of conflicting practice commitments. Keffer suited up for the 2008-09 Western States Hockey League season for the Junior A-level San Diego Gulls. In 43 games, he had collected two goals and three assists to go with 82 penalty minutes.

The Gulls (25-15-5) open a best-of-three playoff series against the Valencia Thunder (31-15-3) on Friday.

Morris said Keffer, Beach and Gaalaas all “push the speed on the team” while Ayleworth -- because of the dual ice and roller hockey experience -- is likely the team's most improved player.

“On Monday we're very strong. On Wednesday we're under-manned,” Morris said.

West Hills played at full strength for Monday's game, with its four ice hockey players in the line-up, and the win over Bonita Vista proved to be just that -- an all-around team victory. A total of eight players either picked up a goal or assist. The Wolf Pack broke away with seven unanswered goals after the Barons netted a power play goal midway through the second period.

Bonita Vista, the lowest-seeded team in this year's playoffs with a 5-14-1 record, battled West Hills tough through most of the opening period, keeping the game scoreless until Gaalaas finally managed to put the Wolf Pack on the scoreboard with 5:46 left in the first period.

“I give credit to Bonita Vista. They were tremendous underdogs but they came to play. They gave us a tough game (early on).”

The Wolf Pack out-shot Bonita Vista 39-20, with West Hills goaltender Cameron McIntyre credited with 19 saves in the victory. Mike Lexack and Hillary Baxter supported the winning effort with two assists each.

Being mentally prepared despite trudging through a difficult league schedule was a key to the team's resurgence in post-season play.

“It's been tough but we stayed together,” Morris said.

WSHL Gulls
Keffer is one of a handful of East County players on the Junior A team, joining fellow defenseman Weston Cydell (Santana) and forward Cassidy April (Valhalla). Cydell ranks fourth in team scoring with 20 goals and 18 assists with 14 power play goals while April had scored six goals and 20 assists.

The Gulls finished third in the Western Division standings behind Valencia and the regular season division champion Phoenix Polar Bears (39-6-1).

First round - Monday, Feb. 23 at Skate San Diego
(8) La Jolla Country Day 4, (9) St. Augustine 3
(7) West Hills 13, (10) Bonita Vista 1

Highlights:
Torreys 4, Saints 3: La Jolla Country Day took a very early 2-0 lead on precision-point goals by Ben Sweeney and James Owsiany in the firswt four minutes and the pair added goals late stages of the opening period as the reigning South Bay Leageu champions skated to a 4-1 advantage on the scoreboard. St. Augustine netminder Mick Hammack, however, would not allow another goal for the rest of the game and the Saints, despite stuggling on offense for most of the game against the LJCD defense, made it a thrilling finish by pulling to 4-2 at the end of  two periods and making it a one-goal game on a goal by Steven Curran with 1:20 to play. St. Augustine pulled its goaltender in the final 30 seconds but could not net the equalizer. Sweeney led the Torreys with two goals and one assist while Owsiany had two goals. Cameron Sowka and Joey Sowka each were credited with assists. Eric Williamson played well between the pipes when called on by LJCD but Hammack had to be the Saints' No. 1 star of the game for keeping his team in position to possibly score an upset win. Cameron Kayfish scored in the first period for the Saints while Trent Robinson scored for St. Augustine in the second period.

Quarterfinals - Wednesday, Feb. 25 at Skate San Diego
(4) Hilltop (15-5) vs. (5) Eastlake (14-6), 5:30 p.m.

Quarterfinals - Wednesday, Feb. 25 at Escondido Sports Center
(3) Rancho Bernardo (13-6-1) vs. (6) Scripps Ranch (8-12), 6:10 p.m.
(1) Westrview (18-2) vs. (8) La Jolla Country Day (16-5), 7:10 p.m.
(2) Poway (15-4-1) vs. (7) West Hills (4-17, 8:10 p.m.)

Lancers, Torreys, Wolverines are first teams to qualify for 2009 Kiwanis Cup championship playoffs
Otay Ranch excluded from post-season play due to ineligible player

2008-09 CIF/Metro Conference Kiwanis Cup Playoff Bracket

Posted Feb. 18, 2009
The CIF/Metro Conference Kiwanis Cup championship playoffs face off Monday at Skate San Diego in National City. The three league champions in the 16-team prep roller hockey circuit receive automatic entry into the 10-team field. Those team are the Hilltop Lancers (Mesa League), La Jolla Country Day Torreys (South Bay League) and Westview Wolverines (North County League).

The remaining seven teams will be selected at the upcoming playoff seeding meeting. All five North County League teams are expected to receive post-season berths, with five of the 11 teams from the Mesa and South Bay leagues expected to gain entrance.

As in recent seasons, teams from the North County League are expected to go deep into the playoffs, though there could be a surprise or two.

Hilltop (14-5) and La Jolla Country Day (14-5) are a combined 0-7 against North County League teams but at the top of their game have proved to be especially competitive. The Lancers lost 3-1 to West Hills (with the final goal into an empty net) while the Torreys dropped a 6-3 decision to Poway.
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The runner-up team in the Mesa League, Eastlake (14-5) has two wins against northern foes -- 5-4 over Scripps Ranch (8-11) and 7-5 against West Hills (2-17). St. Augustine, the runner-up team in the South Bay League, is 13-6 overall but is winless against northern teams.

One of the teams apparently not taking part in this year's championship playoffs, barring a last-minute appeal, is the Otay Ranch Mustangs after being forced to forfeit most of their games during the first half of the season for using an ineligible player.

The Mustangs entered last week with an overall 14-4 record, excluding forfeits.

The exclusion of the Mustangs is an unfortunate occurrence, especially in the wake of Otay Ranch's 6-5 overtime victory over newly-crowned Mesa League champion Hilltop on Feb. 12. The Mustangs' thrilling win did not affect the Lancers' championship fortunes but did make a statement as to just how good this year's Otay Ranch team still is.

"Everyone has kind of accepted it for what it is," Mustang senior captain Zach Johnson said.

The game proved to be one of the most exciting of the season despite its non-impact on the standings.

Johnson had four goals, including the game-winner just six seconds into overtime. The game was tied at the end of each quarter -- 2-2 after the first period, 4-4 after the second period and 5-5 through regulation. The Mustangs forced overtime as Carlos Melendez scored with 9:25 left in the third period. Kekoa Latimore paced Hilltop with three goals and two assists.

Lancer netminder Skyler Travis got a piece of Johnson's game-winning shot before it trickled behind him into the net.

Johnson called the win "a good feeling -- a tiring feeling."

Despite being excluded from the playoffs because of the forfeit losses, the Mustangs appear to gather momentum as the season progressed. "A lot of the younger players are starting to play together, instead of us of us (older players) always trying to do it ourselves."

Either Bonita Vista (5-13-1) or Mar Vista (6-11-1) may take the Mustangs' place in the playoffs.

LJCD improved to 14-0 in league play after Tuesday's 15-1 victory over Southwest (3-10, 3-15). Ben Sweeney led the Torreys with three goals and five assists while Cameron Sowka had five goals and two assists and James Owsiany had four goals and one assist.

It appears that either Sweeney or Owsiany could capture this year's conference scoring title. Sweeney entered the week with 86 points (58 goals, 28 assists) while Owsiany had 83 points (55 goals, 28 assists).

Eastlake skated past Sweetwater (7-12) by a 9-1 score in a non-league game on Tuesday as Jace White had two goals and three assists, Andrew Abuyo had a goal and two assists and Zach McMahon had two goals. Abuyo entered the week with a team-best 79 points on 34 goals and 45 assists while Justin White had 70 points on 46 goals and 24 assists.

Scripps Ranch improved to 3-1 against Mesa/South Bay opponents following Tuesday's 14-2 non-league victory against Otay Ranch. Steven Sherman (three goals, one assist) and Christian Chang (two goals

Lancers win one for Pat, win Mesa League title
Hilltop skates past Eastlake, 8-5, in inspired performance

Posted Feb. 11, 2009
During each timeout between periods of Tuesday's CIF/Metro Conference Mesa League championship game between the Hilltop Lancers and Eastlake Titans at Skate San Diego in National City, the Lancers altered their traditional cheer to honor a fallen schoolmate.

"Pat-ty! Pat-ty!" the chant went up to honor the memory of Patrick Canas Jr., a promising sophomore lacrosse player who was struck and killed by a car in front of the school last Friday while apparently retrieving an errant lacrosse ball that had sailed over the fence near the softball field.

The tragedy galvanized the entire Lancer campus. Hilltop coach Dan Vaccaro said about five or six players on the school's roller hockey team were personally acquainted with the young Canas.

"We played for him. We just played for him," said Tylor Spracklin, who identified himself as one of Canas' friends.

The Lancers also played for a league championship and won one by virtue of their inspired 8-5 come-from-behind victory over the Titans.

The win raised Hilltop's Mesa League record to 9-1 and dropped Eastlake to 7-3 in league play. With two league games remaining, the Lancers officially clinched the title with Tuesday's victory.

The win was the second in a row over the Titans after Hilltop coughed up a 7-5 lead en route to an 8-7 loss in the teams' first meeting back in December.

As a league champion, the Lancers (14-4 overall) receive a berth in the upcoming Kiwanis Cup championship playoffs.

"We won the rubber match. We're proud," Vaccaro said. "The guys had to deal with the tragedy at the school this week and they came through it fine. We're looking strong right now."

The game was an emotional roller coaster for both teams, as Eastlake lost the services of two players to broken bones prior to the start of the week. Dante Patron, perhaps the fastest skater in South County and one of the team's scoring leaders, broke a femur in an ice hockey match on Sunday while Jordan Hines fractured a hand in a physical education class.

Yet the Titans (12-5 overall) promptly broke out to a 2-0 lead on a pair of goals by Justin White, including the first on a breakaway just 50 seconds into the game. But Hilltop responded with three consecutive goals to rebound and take a 3-2 lead before the first period ended in a 3-all draw.

Eastlake had to win Tuesday's contest if it had any designs of pulling out a league co-championship. The Lancers regained the lead at 4-3 midway through the second period but the Titans promptly tied the game at 4-4 on White's hat trick goals.

But the game's momentum quickly swung the other way as Hilltop scored the go-ahead goal less than 20 seconds later to go up 5-4. The Lancers maintained their lead from that point forward, holding a 6-4 lead heading into the final period. Eastlake got as close as two goals, 7-5, with 10:20 to play.

Kekoa Latimore led Hilltop with two goals and four assists while teammate Andrew Ries was credited with three goals and two assists. Matthew Kuehn was credited with two goals. Skyler Travis made several key acrobatic stops as usual in bracing the Lancers between the pipes.

Spracklin also scored one goal in the game.

White was credited with three goals and one assist to pace Eastlake, which to its credit fought valiantly to the bitter end.

"They're a very good team," Hilltop bench coach Darren Ries said in regard to the Titans.

Eastlake coach Rone Torres felt his team could not maintain its early momentum. "I thought we played well to open but couldn't keep the intense pace which we began the game with," he said.
"I give a lot of credit to both Dan, Darren and their team for a stellar effort.

"I am not blaming the loss on the injuries that happened to Dante Patron and Jordan Hines, and I told the kids that we still the tools to both win and win in big games."

While Eastlake had laid claim to the bragging rights as the top South County team in the first half of the season, with two consecutive victories now over Eastlake, the Lancers have to be considered the top South County team in the second half of the season.

The rise to the top couldn't come at a better time for Hilltop as the Kiwanis Cup playoffs are set to roll Feb. 23. The Titans, meanwhile, have something to prove as well -- they'd like to carry their season as deep as possible into the playoffs.

Lancers, Torreys skate closer to league titles
Posted Feb. 10, 2009
The Hilltop Lancers and La Jolla Country Day Torreys picked up key wins Tuesday at Skate San Diego to all but clinch regular season league championship titles. LJCD defeated the Sweetwater Red Devils, 15-1, behind behind five goals and two assists each by Ben Sweeney and James Owsiany to improve to 12-0 in South Bay League play while Hilltop improved to 9-1 in Mesa League play with an 8-5 victory over the Eastlake Titans.

The Titans (12-5 overall) had laid claim to the bragging rights as the top South County team in the first half of the season but with two consecutive victories over Eastlake, the Lancers (14-4 overall) now have to be considered the top South County team in the second half of the season.

The Titans had to win Tuesday's match-up against Hilltop if they had any designs of pulling out a league championship. Eastlake promptly skated to a 2-0 lead but then just as quickly found itself trailing 3-2. The opening period ended in a 3-3 standoff. The Lancers regained the lead at 4-3 but ther Titans promptly tied the game. But the game's momentum quickly swung the other way as Hilltop scored the go-ahead goal less than 20 seconds later to lead 5-4. The Lancers maintained their lead from that point forward, holding a 6-4 lead heading into the final period. Eastlake got as close as two goals, 7-5, with 10:20 to play.

Kekoa Latimore led the Lancers with two goals and four assists while teammate Andrew Ries was credited with t hree goals and two assists. Matthew Kuehn was credited with two goals. Skyler Travis made several key acrobatic stops as usual in bracing the Lancers between the pipes.

Justin White was credited with three goals and one assist to pace Eastlake, which lost the services of Dante Patron over the weekend due to an ice hockey injury (broken femur). Patron and Abuyo led the Titans in scoring, with Patrone earning honors as the fastest skater in South County.

Meanwhile, Sweeney and Owsiany are battling for the CIF/Metro Conference scoring lead and it looks like the 2008-09 scoring champion might not be settled until the final game. The Torreys (12-5 overall) can wrap up their first league title in school history with a victory against St. Augustine Wednesday at the Esconidido Sports Center. The Saints are two games back of LJCD in the loss column.

The Torreys entered Tuesday's game fresh off Monday's 6-3 non-league loss to Poway at the Escondido Sports Center.

"We played well in that game," LCJD coach David Brink said.

The Torreys took a bold step to securing the South Bay League regular season championship by defeatikng St. Augustine, 4-1, in a second-round league game on Jan. 28.

"We played well," Brink said. "They have Mick Hammack in goal. Mick stopped all kinds of shots. We had the puck mostly in their zone. Most of their offense cam on counter-attacks.We just had a hard time getting the puck past Mick."

More details to follow.  

West Hills Wolf Pack howling for respect

Posted Feb. 9, 2009
Despite possessing a 2-14 overall record heading into the final two weeks of play in the CIF/Metro Conference, the West Hills High School roller hockey team has shown over the course of the season that it belongs to be included in the upcoming Kiwanis Cup championship playoffs. The Wolf Pack defeated Mesa League leader Hilltop, 3-1, in non-league play on Dec. 11 and upended South Bay League leader La Jolla Country Day by a score of 8-4 in another non-league match-up on Feb. 2.

The Kiwanis Cup playoffs face off Feb. 23 and culminate with the championship game on March 4.

Ten of the 16 teams in the conference qualify for post-season play. The three league champions receive automatic entry, with the remaining seven teams selected on an at-large basis.

The top six seeded teams receive a bye in the opening round of the playoffs, with the two first-round winners completing a quarterfinal-round of eight teams. Based on season results, the Wolf Pack figures somewhere in the middle of the pack. The other four teams in the North County League would likley receive higher playoff seeds. Only the Eastlake Titans, the second-place team in the Mesa League, has defeated the Wolf Pack in three non-league contests, that coming on Jan. 14.

This is the fourth year of play for West Hills in the ground-breaking CIF/Metro Conference, the only CIF-sanctioned high school roller hockey league in the state. The Wolf Pack was seeded ninth in last year's 12-team playoff field and defeated Scripps in the opening round before closing out its season in the quarterfinals with a 13-3 loss to top-seeded Rancho Bernardo. West Hills was seeded eighth two years ago and also scored a first-round victory, defeating Eastlake, 8-4, before ending its season with a 5-2 quarterfinal loss to Scripps Ranch.

West Hills entered its Feb. 9 game against Scripps Ranch 0-13 in North County League play but has played extremely competitive hockey in the second half of the season.

"We've had two real good years making the playoffs and we'd like to continue that tradition," head coach Dennis Morris said. "We play against some of the top teams in the conference in our league. It's very competitive in our league, so our record is somewhat deceiving."

Hilltop, which sports an overall record of 13-4 but is 0-3 in non-league match-ups against North County League teams, found that much out in its encounter against the Wolf Pack prior to the winter break. West Hills took a 2-0 first period lead on goals by Alex Wallace and Lori Hoover, the first coming on a power play. The Lancers halved the lead on the only goal in the second period and the Wolf Pack fought off three ensuing Hilltop power plays in the thrid period before icing the game on an empty net goal by Wallace with three seconds to play.

In the win over LJCD, Kellen McManus scored three times and racked up two goals and two assists in the loss to Eastlake.

Wallace and McManus both rank among the team's top returners, who are led first and foremost by all-conference goaltender Cameron McIntryre.

Spencer Gaalaas, Jeron Beach, Donnie Keffer, Keith Gurr and Phoebe Morris complete the cast of top returners on the team.

Keffer (eight goals, four assists), Gaalaas (nine goals, two assists), McManus (eight goals, three assists), Wallace (four goals, six assists) and Corey Dermody (six goals, two assists) lead a balanced scoring attack for the Wolf Pack.

Keffer also plays ice hockey on the San Diego Gulls Junior A Western States Hockey League team.

West Hills closes out league play with upcoming games against the two North County League leaders before closing out regular season play with a non-league game against Bonita Vista Feb. 19 at Skate San Diego in National City.

With the Wolf Pack narrowing the scores against its North County League foes in recent weeks, a toughened-up West Hills squad could make an impact in the upcoming playoffs.

CV Spartans score high in fair play, team sportsmanship

CIF/Metro Conference Scoring Leaders (Week 8)
Posted Feb. 5, 2009
An era of sorts will come to an end very shortly for the Chula Vista Spartans roller hockey team. Among the seniors who will graduate are Eric Sharp and Ashley Smith.

Both have been key contributors throughout their careers. Sharp has played since he was a freshman and has risen up the ranks to become not only the team’s scoring leader but one of the top scorers in the CIF/Metro Conference. Smith is enumerated on a very short list of female goaltenders who have held their own in what is a rather rugged sport.

If an all-league team were named from the Mesa League, both players would likely find a spot somewhere.

Chula Vista, alas, is not one of the stronger teams in the 16-team CIF/Metro Conference and that has been the case now for several years. But the Spartans, who fell to 0-9 in league play following Tuesday’s 9-1 loss to Otay Ranch, play for other reasons: namely, the love of the game, camaraderie and fun.

Wins are definitely savored and narrow defeats are met with frustration. But listening to the group collectively prepare for games in one of the corners of Skate San Diego, one might think the players were getting ready to battle for the league championship with their excited banter, ribbing and all-around good nature.

If any team would win a trophy for sheer sportsmanship, the Spartans would be among the leading candidates.

That has to be a tribute to head coach Pam Wiser as well as the rest of the team.

Certainly, Chula Vista (4-12 overall) did not roll over and play dead for the much higher-powered Mustangs. The Spartans, like many of the conference’s lower tier teams, have made improvement over the course of the season and that was evident in Tuesday’s contest. Otay Ranch, which also prizes good sportsmanship among its players, led 3-1 after the first period.

Sharp scored his 23rd goal of the season to tie the game at 1-1 before the Mustangs eventually took control of the contest on the scoreboard. For Otay Ranch, team captain Zach Johnson finished the game with three goals and three assists while Carlos Melendez had two goals and one assist, Jeremiah Jodzio had one goal and one assist and Danielle McAvenia and Joe Rutledge were each credited with one goal.

McAvenia, one of a handful of female skaters in the conference, has developed her game significantly over her career to earn regular shifts on the floor. She entered the game with 11 goals and seven assists to rank fifth on the team in scoring.

Johnson entered the game with a conference-best 66 points on 41 goals and 25 assists while Melendez (24 goals, nine assists) and Daniel Pacheco (22 goals, 11 assists) were each credited with 33 points.

Bradley Bonney ranks second in team scoring for the Spartans with 12 goals and nine assists, followed by teamamates Daniel Breon (14 goals, two assists) and Matt Diaz (five goals, three assists).

Mesa League countdown
Hilltop moved into sole possession of the Mesa League lead following Otay Ranch’s dramatic 7-6 comeback victory over Eastlake on Jan. 29 coupled with the Lancers’ ensuing 10-4 win over Chula Vista.

With four league games remaining on the schedule, Hilltop (8-1 in league play, 12-4 overall) leads Eastlake (7-2, 11-3) by one game in the standings, with Otay Ranch (6-3, 12-3) two games off the lead.

The Mustangs rode the puck to an early 4-1 lead, only to relinquish it to a charged-up Titan squad. Eastlake went up 5-4 on a goal by Jace White with 2:30 elapsed in the second period and took a 6-5 lead on another goal by White, this time with 9:03 left in the final period.

Jodzio tied the game at 6-6 with 6:33 to play and Johnson netted the game-winner on a power play goal with just 1:32 left in regulation.

The game was a battle of freshman goaltenders, with Otay Ranch’s Maddy Melendez out-playing Eastlake’s Darius Newhall.

Johnson led the Mustangs with six points on three goals and two assists while Jodzio paced the team with four goals.

White had three goals for Eastlake, which also received single goals from Dante Patron, Andrew Abuyo and Zach McMahon.
Otay Ranch persevered through five penalties to win the game.

“Helluva job! Helluva job!” Mustang coach Adrian Rodriguez said to his team as they left the floor.

No other words were necessary.

Matthew Kuehn, Kekoa Latimore and Bobby Rude each scored two goals to lead Hilltop into first place in the ensuing game at Skate San Diego. The Lancers built a 5-0 lead before the Spartans scored their first goal. Tyler Spracklin, Jeremiah Schultz, Andrew Ries and Ray Cordero each had single goals for Hilltop while Bradley Bonney, Matt Diaz, Joseph Garcia and Sharp each had goals for Chula Vista, which scored three goals in the third period to make a dent in a 7-1 Lancer lead.

Hilltop set itself up for the move into first place by rallying from a 2-1 deficit against Otay Ranch two days earlier to win 4-2 on the strength of three goals in the final 4:32.

Otay Ranch built its lead on first-period goals by Pacheco and McAvenia. The Lancers tied the game on a goal by Ries late in the third period and took their first lead of the game at 3-2 on a goal by Latimore with 2:36 remaining. Hilltop scored an empty net goal with 23 seconds to play, as Latimore completed a hat trick.

None was more pleased by the outcome than veteran Hilltop coach Dan Vaccaro.

“That helped us out quite a bit,” he said. “Given the remaining matches we have, we’re in great shape.”

Vaccaro said he is looking for a strong finish by his team, “The first time we played Eastlake, we were winning 7-5. We had a two-goal lead and lost. Looking back, that loss might have been the best thing for us. Now up against Eastlake and Otay Ranch, we play solid. Now our kids know there’s a third period (still to play).”

The Lancers have been assisted in their drive to claim the Mesa League title by the presence of Kuehn and Cordero in front of standout netminder Skyler Travis. Both defensemen are 6-2 and 180 pounds and more importantly, according to Vaccaro, both are underclassmen.
Their presence in the back has allowed Ries to move to a forward spot, with obvious dividends.

Ries leads the team in scoring with 52 points on 38 goals and 14 assists. He had four goals in Tuesday’s 6-0 league win over Bonita Vista.
Other South County scoring leaders include Eastlake’s Abuyo with 55 points (24 goals, 31 assists) and Patrone with 53 points (34 goals, 19 assists). Abuyo ranks fifth in conference scoring while Patrone is sixth.

CIF/Metro Conference Scoring Leaders
(Through Jan. 29)
•Zach Johnson (Otay Ranch) 41 goals, 25 assists — 66 points
•James Owsiany (La Jolla Country Day) 43 goals, 20 assists — 63 points
•Ben Sweeney (La Jolla Country Day) 43 goals, 18 assists — 61 points
•Zach Vachris (Poway) 38 goals, 22 assists — 60 points
•Andrew Abuyo (Eastlake) 24 goals, 31 assists — 55 points
•Dante Patrone (Eastlake) 34 goals, 19 assists — 53 points
•Eric Eyler (Poway) 27 goals, 25 assists — 52 points
•Andrew Ries (Hilltop) 34 goals, 14 assists — 48 points
Justin White (Eastlake) 26 goals, 15 assists - 41 points
Christian Chang (Scripps Ranch) 27 goals, 9 assists - 36 points
Shane Clements (Westview) 23 goals, 13 assists - 36 points
Eric Obinger (Westview) 23 goals, 13 assists - 36 points
Jason Kurth (Westview) 14 goals, 22 assists - 36 points
Carlos Melendez (Otay Ranch) 24 goals, 9 assists - 33 points
Daniel Pacheco (Otay Ranch) 22 goals, 11 assists - 33 points
Jace White (Eastlake) 16 goals, 17 assists - 33 points
Eddy Nielsen (Sweetwater) 27 goals, 5 assists - 32 points
Kyle Schaefer (Rancho Bernardo) 23 goals, 9 assists - 32 points
Steven Micallef (Bonita Vista) 23 goals, 9 assists - 32 points
Eric Sharp (Chula Vista) 22 goals, 10 assists - 32 points
Daniel Ruelas (Bonita Vista) 27 goals, 4 assists - 31 points
Anthony Mata (Westview) 23 goals, 7 assists - 30 points

Lancers streak into tie for first place in Mesa League standings
CIF/Metro Conference Scoring Leaders (Week 6)

Posted Jan. 23, 2009
The 2009 portion of the 2008-09 high school winter sports season has been especially kind to the Hilltop High School roller hockey team. The Lancers closed out the first three weeks of play in the new calendar year with a spotless 5-0 record following their 4-3 victory over Eastlake on Jan. 22.

A continuation of the same will had Hilltop this season’s Mesa League championship.

Kekoa Latimore scored two goals, Bobby Rude was credited with a goal and assist and Jeremiah Schultz was credited with what proved to be the game-winner — off an assist from Matthew Kuehn — as the Lancers made amends for an 8-7 loss to the Titans in the first round of league play on Dec. 18.

The teams rematch for the third and final time in league play in mid-February.

Heading into the final week of play in January, both Hilltop (5-1, 9-3) and Eastlake (5-1, 9-2) owned one loss in league play, with Otay Ranch (two league losses) looking to move up to join the two co-leaders with wins against either.

The Mustangs (4-2, 10-2) engage Hilltop on Jan. 27 and Eastlake on Jan. 29 in second-round league match-ups.

The road to the Mesa League championship still remains to be fully mapped out. But the Lancers have now taken control of their own destiny. Should Hilltop win its final six league games, there would be no disputing which team would be on top of the standings at the end of the season.

It looks to be an exciting stretch run for all three squads.

Eastlake, with a pair of wins against North County League teams under its skates, had made a solid claim for top South County bragging rights through the opening third of the season. The Titans took a 2-1 first-period lead on Hilltop on goals by Justin White and Dante Patron and looked to carry on that momentum.

White notched the game’s jump goal with 6:25 to play in the first period but Rude leveled the score at a goal apiece when he scored with 5:49 left in the opening stanza. Patron gave Eastlake a one-goal lead on his goal with 12 seconds left in the period.

Hilltop added two more goals on the scoreboard in the second period before the Titans could respond. Latimore scored both goals to give the Lancers a 3-2 lead. His first goal came just 47 seconds into the middle period to tie the game. Latimore then put his team ahead by a goal when he scored just more than two minutes later.

Eastlake knotted the game at 3-3 when team captain Andrew Abuyo scored an unassisted goal with 9:20 to play in the period. But Kuehn set up Schultz with 4:39 to go in the middle stanza, once again handing Hilltop a one-goal lead.

Neither team scored in the third period, with the Lancer defense shutting out the high-powered Eastlake offense for the final 24:20 of the high profile contest.

After the defensive show of force, Hilltop’s Sklyer Travis has to be considered the leading candidate for honors as the top goaltender among this season’s South County roller hockey teams.

Travis pointed to concentration and decidation as calming influences in focusing on playing the position as keys to elevating his performance this season.

Lancer leading scorer Andrew Ries did not pick up a point in the game while Abuyo, Eastlake’s top point-getter, was held to just one point.

Hilltop faced off 2009 with a 14-3 Mesa League victory over Chula Vista on Jan. 5 and followed with a 6-1 win against St. Augustine — last year’s Mesa League champion — in a non-league game on Jan. 6. The Lancers followed with a 6-1 league victory against Bonita Vista on Jan. 13 and topped Mar Vista, 8-1, in a non-league encounter on Jan. 15.

Ries came out of Hilltop's seven games before the winter break as the team's leading scorer with 24 goals and five assists. He started off 2009 with seven points (two goals, five assists) in the game against Chula Vista and ended the first week back from the winter break tied for the conference scoring lead with 39 points on 29 goals and 10 assists.

Ries and Rude each had two goals in the win over St. Augustine. Rude had six points (five goals, one assist) in the Jan. 5 game against the Spartans.

Eastlake, which saw a five-game winning streak ended by Hilltop, closed out first-round league play with a 15-2 win over Chula Vista on Jan. 15. In that game, Patron scored five goals while Jace White was credited with two goals and two assists.

Otay Ranch 8, St. Augustine 3
Jan. 22 at Skate San Diego: Daniel Pacheco had three goals and one assist, Zach Johnson had two goals and one assist, Jeremiah Jodzio had one goal and two assists and Carlos Melendez scored two goals to lead the Mustangs, who opened up he game with three goals in the second period to lead 5-2. The Saints scored single goals in each period. Daniel Bonin led St. Augustine with two goals while Jordan Jodzio scored once for the Saints, who trailed 2-1 at the end of the first period.

Bonita Vista 10, Chula Vista 3
Jan. 22 at Skate San Diego: Daniel Ruelas scored five goals to lead the Barons to their second win over the Spartans this season while Steven Micallef had three goals and single goals were credited to Ryan Micallef and Julian Mariano. Bonita Vista led 3-1 after the opening period and built a 7-2 lead through two periods. Eric Sharp scored twice to lead Chula Vista, which also got a goal from Bryan Chavez.

Titans' comeback clips Falcons' wings

Posted Jan. 13, 2009
This season, South County teams in the CIF/Metro Conference are being allowed to play one game at the Escondido Sports Center against teams from the North County League. The Eastlake Titans made the most of their trip north by recording a come-from-behind 5-4 victory over the Scripps Ranch Falcons in non-league play.

The Falcons led 4-2 after scoring on a power play with 3:06 left in the game before the Titans erupted for three unanswered goals to skate off the floor victors.

“It was at that point that I saw something from my kids that I haven’t seen before,” Eastlake coach Rone Torres said.

Torres said his team received “stellar play” from freshman goaltender Darius Newhall, who made 39 saves on 43 shots in the game. Dante Patron had four points (three goals, one assist) in the game while Justin White had three points (two goals, one assist). Andrew Abuyo contributed two assists.

“We came back, tied the score with under a minute to go, and took a 5-4 lead which we would not surrender to win the game,” Torres said.
Torres said the story of the game was the solid defensive play by his team.

“They never quit, chip-on-their- shoulder attitude that they displayed all night,” the Titan bench boss said. “Scripps Ranch was very fast, had great hands and cycled well in our zone. But time after time, we clogged their passing lanes, broke up plays, battled in the corners, and played tough down low. Mike Oleata, Jordan Hines, Zach McMahon and Zach White provided depth and grit off the bench. Zach McMahon, who is getting better every game, had three shots on net, including a point-blank save off of a Patron rebound in the third period when we were down 3-2 and Jordan Hines and Mike Oleata both blocked three shots.”

Said Torres: “The first line of Dante, Justin, Andrew and Jace (White) played great, double-shifted and proved to everyone last night that Eastlake is close to not only being the best team in the South Bay but a major overall competitor in the county, period.”

Titans tame Wolf Pack,
Eastlake continued its strong showing by defeating West Hills, 7-5, on Jan. 14 as Andrew Abuyo (four goals, two assists), Dante Patron (one goal, two assists), Justin White (two goals) and Jace White (two assists) combined for all seven goals. The Titans led 3-1 after the opening period and each team scored once in the second period as Eastlake took a 4-2 lead into the final period.

The Wolf Pack, with just one victory to their credit this season by playing in the extremely competitive North County League (West Hills defeated Hilltop by a 3-1 score in non-league play prior to the winter break), scored the first goal of the third period to narrow the score to 4-3. But the Titans answered the challenge by scoring twice more before the Wolf Pack could get its next goal, thereby taking a 6-3 lead.

West Hills scored with 3:51 to play to make it a 6-4 game. The teams exchanged goals in the frantic final minutes, with Eastlake going up 7-4 on a goal by Justin White with 2:18 left in the game. The Wolf Pack closed out scoring on a goal by Hillary Baxter with seven ticks left on the score clock.

Kellen McManus scored two goals and two assists to lead West Hills, which also received one goal and two assists from Ricky Aylesworth. Corey Dermondy also was credited with one goal.

Abuyo notched the Titans’ third, fourth and fifth goals in order over three periods of play, netting his team’s final goal in the first period, only goal in the middle period and first goal in the third period. Justin White closed out Eastlake’s scoring with the final two goals of the game, both assisted by Patron.
Eastlake, now 2-1 against teams from the North County League, will next engage a northern opponent on Feb. 4 when the Titans face off against the Westview Wolverines.

Eastlake improved to 8-1 overall with the win over West Hills.

"We got up two goals early and were able to hold a 2-goal advatage throughout the contest.," Titan coach Rone Torres said. "We outskated, out-husteld, and last night wanted it more. It is becoming apparent when we play North County teams they don't seem to have a lot of respect for the South Bay. They play lazy, try to do trick shots and try fancy passes against us, and shift often to try and throw younger, inexperienced skaters out there. However, what they run into is a team playing very angry right now -- angry since the lack of effort during the Hilltop game, and the Poway game where we played down and didn't mount any kind of "hockey" until the third period.".

Westview (9-0) remained the conference’s lone undefeated team by shading previously undefeated Poway, 5-4, in overtime in North County League action Jan. 14 at the Escondido Sports Center. Shane Clements spearheaded the Wolverines’ effort with two goals.

“The kids are trying to carry the South Bay right now,” Torres said. “They haven’t lost focus on any of the games yet, including Hilltop and Otay Ranch. We want to be a big picture team. There’s a lot of responsibility to that. The kids are bearing that weight.”

South Bay League highlights: Mariners, Torreys, Saints pick up wins
Mar Vista 6, Sweetwater 5
Jan. 12 at Skate San Diego: The Mariners scored four goals in the third period and then got the game-winner in overtime to shade the Red Devils, who skated into the third period with a 4-1 lead. Emmanuel Alcaraz led Mar Vista with three goals, including the winner with 1:41 left in the five-minute overtime period. Dylan Taylor was credited with two goals and two assists. Howard Nielson led Sweetwater with three goals and one assist while Rudy Garcia and Ismael Sisto each scored once and Robert Felizardo contributed two assists. The Mariners scored two quick goals to open the third period to narrow the Red Devil lead to 4-3, tied the game at 4-4 with 9:03 left in regulation play on Alcaraz' second goal of the game and took a 5-4 lead with 1:14 left on a goal credited to Taylor. SuHi pulled its goaltender and Nielson completed his hat trick in the dying seconds to send the game into overtime. Mar Vista improved to 2-2 in South Bay League play, 2-5-1 overall, while Sweetwater slipped to 1-4 in league play, 1-8 overall.

LJCD 12, Southwest 0
Jan. 12 at Skate San Diego: Ben Sweeney scored four goals and added three assists to help power the Torreys to their sixth consecutive South Bay League win. James Owsiany had five points on three goals and two assists while Sam Brink had four points on two goals and two assists and Cameron Eibl contributed two goals. Cameron Sowka had one goal and one assist for LJCD, which skated to a 5-0 first-period lead and led 7-0 entering the final period. The Torreys are 6-2 overall.

St. Augustine 17, Castle Park 3
Jan. 12 at Skate San Diego: Trent Robinson led the Saints in the South Bay League over the Trojans with five points on two goals and three assists. John Armarillas and Jordan Jodzio each were credited with four goals and Daniel Bonin contributed three goals and one assist. Chris Dante had one goal and two assists while Logan McConnell had one goal and one assist. Glen McDonald and Daniel Deiters also were credited with one goal apiece. St. Augustine (4-1 in South Bay League, 5-4 overall) took a 4-0 lead after the first period and zoomed in front 11-0 with seven second-period goals. Castle Park scored all its goals in the final period. The Trojans (0-4, 0-9) kept plugging away to the end, with Paul Quiones netting the game's final goal with 47 seconds to play.


Otay Ranch 12, Chula Vista 1
Jan. 13 at Skate San Diego: Zach Johnson and Daniel Pacheco each scored three goals and one assist and Jeremiah Jodzio contributed two goals and two assists as the Mustangs improved to 3-2 in Mesa League play, 7-2 overall. Otay Ranch built a 9-0 lead. Danielle McAvenia scored two goals and Carlos Melendez scored once for the Mustangs, who led 5-0 after the opening period. Johnson entered the game tied for the CIF/Metro Conference scoring lead with 39 points (25 goals, 14 assists). Chula Vista fell to 0-5 in league play, 4-8 overall. Daniel Breon scored the lone goal for the Spartans.

Hilltop 6, Bonita Vista 1
Jan. 13 at Skate San Diego: Kekoa Latimore scored two goals and two assists, Bobby Rude scored two goals and Matthew Kuehn added a goal and two assists to pace the Lancers past the Barons in a Mesa League encounter. Hilltop trailed 1-0 on a goal by Bonita Vista's Steven Micallef but countered to take a 2-1 first-period lead on goals by Latimore and Andrew Ries. The Lancers added two goals in each of the next two periods behind the solid goaltending of Skyler Travis. Ries entered the game co-leading the CIF/Metro Conference in scoring with 29 goals and 10 assists for 39 points. Hilltop improved to 4-1 in league play, 7-3 overall, while Bonita Vista fell to 1-4 in league play, 3-5-1 overall.

CIF/Metro Conference Scoring Leaders
(Through Jan. 12)
Andrew Ries (Hilltop) 29 goals, 10 assists - 39 points
Zach Johnson (Otay Ranch) 25 goals, 13 assists - 39 points
James Owsiany (LJCD) 22 goals, 12 assists - 34 points
Zach Vachris (Poway) 22 goals, 11 assists - 33 points
Ben Sweeney (LJCD) 20 goals, 9 assists - 29 points
Eric Eyler (Poway0 13 goals, 15 assists - 28 points
Andrew Abuyo (Eastlake) 14 goals, 12 assists - 26 points
Jason Kurth (Westview) 8 goals, 16 assists - 24 points
Carlos Melendez (Otay Ranch) 18 goals, 5 assists - 23 points
Dante Patron (Eastlake) 18 goals, 5 assists - 23 points
Eric Sharp (Chula Vista) 17 goals, 5 assists - 22 points
Justin White (Eastlake) 16 goals, 6 assists - 22 points
Eric Obinger (Westview) 12 goals, 9 assists - 21 points
Bobby Rude (Hilltop) 16 goals, 4 assists - 20 points

Lancers face off 2009 half of season with winning streak

Hilltop 14, Chula Vista 3
Jan. 5 at Skate San Diego: Andrew Ries (two goals, five assists), Bobby Rude (five goals, one assist) and Kekoa Latimore (three goals, two assists) keyed the Lancers' offense in the Mesa League victory over the Spartans. Matthew Kuehn scored twice for Hilltop, which built a 9-3 lead through two periods. Kyle Heiskala and Jeremiah Schultz both had a goal and assist in the win while Alfonso Arregun was credited with an assist. Eric Sharp scored twice to lead Chula Vista, which also picked up a goal from Daniel Breon.


Hilltop 6, St. Augustine 1
Jan. 6 at Skate San Diego: The Lancers powerted to a 4-1 first-period lead and made it stand up in the non-league clash against the Saints. Kekoa Latimore, Andrew Ries and Bobby Rude each had two goals to lead Hilltop, which cemented the victory with two third-period goals. Chris Dante was credited with the lone goal for St. Augustine.

Eastlake 15, Bonita Vista 5
Jan. 6 at Skate San Diego: The victorious Titans used a 4-0 first-period jump-start to claim the Mesa League game and remain undefeated in league play. Dante Patron led Eastlake with five goals and one assist while team captain Andrew Abuyo added a goal and four assists. Justin White had three goals and two assists for the victors, who also received two goals and two assists each from Jace White and Zack White and a goal and assist from Zach McMahon. The Titans out-scored the Barons 5-2 in the second period and added six goals in the final period. Daniel Ruelas keyed Bonita Vista with two goals and two assists.

Winter Break Report
Eastlake shocks Hilltop for top South County bragging rights
CIF/Metro Conference Scoring Leaders (Winter Break)

Posted Jan. 5, 2009
After the Eastlake Titans' 4-0 start to the 2008-09 CIF/Metro Conference season, one might be inclined to tab them as the South County's top entry in the conference's 16-team fold. Certainly, they could claim honors as the top local squad through the opening three weeks of the season. Heading into the winter break, the Titans out-scored their opponents 62-9, holding foes to one goal or less in three contests.

Eastlake’s supremacy among South County teams was tested in full in a Mesa League clash against the Hilltop Lancers on Dec. 17 at Skate San Diego in National City. The Lancers won last year’s South Bay League championship but move to the Mesa League this season. Hilltop provided ready-made competition for the Titans after defeating the Otay Ranch Mustangs, 6-5, on a goal with less than two minutes to play on Dec. 9.

The Lancers held two-goal leads over Eastlake on five different occasions in the teams’ high-profile meeting before the Titans rallied with a pair of goals 26-seconds apart by Dante Patron in the final 4:42 to claim a thrill-packed 8-7 league victory.

The teams will meet twice more in league play -- the next time on Jan. 22. The Titans are scheduled to face off against eastside rival Otay Ranch on Thursday, with two more meetings awaiting in the future.

“I called a timeout when we scored our last goal with four minutes left and told the team that few teams can show up and play for four minutes and win a game,” said Torres with a heavy sigh of relief. “I was pretty impressed with a couple of performances. The goal difference was four-to-one in the third period-plus for us — I thought that was impressive.”

The Titans improved to 4-0 on the season — and 2-0 in league play — by defeating the Chula Vista Spartans, 15-1, on Dec. 19. Eastlake was one of just three undefeated teams in the 16-team conference entering the winter break, joining North County League members Poway and Westview, both with 5-0 records.

The Eastlake bench boss feels his team may have the most depth of all the South County-based teams in the 16-team conference. “I think we’re very deep based on all the experience the ninth and 10th graders had last year,” Torres said. “I think we have the deepest team in South County. My job is to keep them focused.”

Patron led the Titans with six goals in the pivotal early-season showdown against Hilltop. He scored Eastlake’s final three goals of the game — all in the third period — to personally erase a 7-5 Lancers lead. He drew the Titans to within a goal on the scoreboard with 1:46 elapsed in the third period, assisted by Abuyo, and tied the game on a breakaway with 4:42 to play. He got loose to put the Titans up by a goal 26 seconds later. Justin White and Andrew Abuyo scored the team’s other two goals.

Eastlake fought through seven penalties in the game, including a game ejection to Justin White for unsportsmanlike conduct early in the final period. The Titans helped their cause with one short-handed goal.

“I thought our freshman goalie (Darius Newhall) made some huge stops in the last minute to preserve the win,” Torres said. “I thought Michael Oleata played some of the best defense I’ve ever seen.”

Meanwhile, Hilltop coach Dan Vaccaro was hoping his team could make it a 5-2 start through the winter break and, for most of the contest against the Titans, it appeared the Lancers would nail down bragging rights as the best team in the south. Instead, Hilltop entered the winter break 4-3.

The Lancers led Eastlake, 5-2, early in the second period on the strength of three goals by Andrew Ries. The Titans began chipping away at the Hilltop lead in the middle period, entering the final period down by two goals.

Eastlake out-scored the Lancers 3-0 in the pivotal final period and killed a Hilltop power play in the final minute to preserve the victory as the final seconds became frenzied on the floor.

Ries finished the game with four goals to lead the Lancers, who used a fine display of teamwork to build up their lead before being derailed by the Titan buzzsaw at the end..

Jace White (four goals, two assists), Justin White (three goals, two assists) and Patron (three goals, two assists) keyed the offense in the game against Chula Vista. Abuyo had two goals in limited playing time while Jordan Hines and Oleata each scored single goals.

The Spartans gave the Titans a bit of trouble early on, with Eastlake holding a 3-1 first-period lead before breaking away in the final two periods. The Titans led 9-1 entering the final period and scored the game’s final 13 goals.

Eastlake looks to be tested in the coming weeks with non-league games against Poway, Scripps Ranch and West Hills.

South Bay League: Torres on top
The La Jolla Country Day Torres skated to a busy opening two weeks of the season en route to compiling an undefeated 3-0 start in South Bay League play with decisive victories against St. Augustine (5-1), Sweetwater (24-1) and Southwest (16-2).

Torres head coach David Brink feels his team just might have the right combination to skate to a league championship this season.

"It should be a pretty intriguing season," said Brink, who is coaching two sons on the team -- sophomore defenseman/forward Sam Brink and senior defenseman Ben Sweeney.

This is the elder Brink's fourth year as LJCD coach.

The Torres, who skated into the winter break 3-2 overall with non-league losses to Westview and Rancho Bernardo, got a huge confidence boost by defeating last year's Mesa League champions, the St. Augustine Saints, on Dec. 3 in a game played at the Escondido Sports Complex. The Saints move to the South Bay League this season but now will have to rally if they are to make it back-to-back league titles.

Teams in the Mesa League and South Bay League play one another three times in league play. LJCD and St. Augustine rematch on Jan. 28.

Sweeney and sophomore forward/defenseman James Owsiany key the Torres' top returners. Not returning to the lineup is Camille Corbin, who is now attending an Ohio prep school.

"We will miss her," David Brink said. "(Freshman) Cameron Sowka won't score as many goals as she did but he gives us other things."

Sowka also can play between the pipes but that seems reserved for the moment by returner Eric Williamson, one of two four-year seniors on the team (the other being Sweeney).

The Torres have four two-year players: Sam Brink, senior forward Cameron Eibl, sophomore defenseman/forward Joey Sowka and Owsiany.

LJ Country Day played with a short bench in the victory over the Saints, thus making the victory even more inspirational. "Ben's chasis broke at one point and we were playing with only three (field) players for about four minutes. Everybody stepped up," the Torres coach said.

St. Augustine skated to a quick 1-0 lead but LJCD rallied with five unanswered goals, holding a 2-1 lead after the opening stanza and closing out the game with a pair of goals exactly one minute apart in the opening two minutes of the third period. Sweeney registered a hat trick while Owsiany had two goals and three assists. Eibl and Cameron Sowka each were credited with assists.

The Torres racked up a 7-0 first-period lead on Sweetwater. Owsiany had seven goals while Sweeney scored five goals. Eibl was credited with four goals. Cameron Sowka and Joey Sowka both scored three goals while Sam Brink scored two goals.

LJ Country Day started slower against Southwest, holding a 3-2 lead through the opening period, but zoomed ahead on the scoreboard with six second-period goals and seven tallies in the third period. Owsiany led the offense with five goals and two assists while Sweeney had four goals and two assists and Cameron Sowka had three goals and one assist.

Ten teams make the playoffs, with each league champion guaranteed a berth in post-season play.

"We're probably in the weakest league and St. Augustine is our biggest rival," the elder Brink said. "I think we have a good chance to win the South Bay League. If we play our A-game, I don't see why we can't win the league. But if we don't bring our A-game, we could have some trouble."

The bottom four playoff entrants meet in the opening round, with the two survivors meeting the top six-seeded teams in the quarterfinal round (with four teams advancing to the Kiwanis Cup semifinals).

'Shock and awe'
Three words that define Eastlake roller hockey

Posted Dec. 23, 2008
Eastlake High School roller hockey coach Rone Torres uses the term “shock and awe” to describe his team. After the Titans’ 4-0 start to the 2008-09 CIF/Metro Conference season, that just might be an apt description. In those four games, Eastlake out-scored its opponents 62-9, holding foes to one goal or less in three contests.

“We want to win the Mesa League league title with a focus on the playoffs,” said Torres, whose team has compiled a record of 31-12 the past two seasons. “That’s always our goal. We also want to be the best team out of South County. I think we have a very fast team with good skills and sound defense.”

Eastlake’s supremacy among South County teams was tested in full in a Mesa League clash against the Hilltop Lancers Dec. 17 at Skate San Diego in National City. The Lancers won last year’s South Bay League championship but move to the Mesa League this season. Hilltop provided ready-made competition for the Titans after defeating the Otay Ranch Mustangs, 6-5, on a goal with less than two minutes to play on Dec. 9.

The Lancers held two-goal leads over Eastlake on five different occasions in the teams’ high-profile meeting before the Titans rallied with a pair of goals 26-seconds apart by Dante Patron in the final 4:42 to claim a thrill-packed 8-7 league victory.

The teams will meet twice more in league play.

“I called a timeout when we scored our last goal with four minutes left and told the team that few teams can show up and play for four minutes and win a game,” said Torres with a heavy sigh of relief. “I was pretty impressed with a couple of performances. The goal difference was four-to-one in the third period-plus for us — I thought that was impressive.”

The Titans improved to 4-0 on the season — and 2-0 in league play — by defeating the Chula Vista Spartans, 15-1, on Dec. 19. Eastlake was one of just three undefeated teams in the 16-team conference entering the winter break, joining North County League members Poway and Westview, both with 5-0 records.

Eastlake zoomed past Mar Vista by a score of 15-1 on Dec. 16 to run its early season record to 2-0. Dante Patron and Andrew Abuyo each had four goals and two assists to pace Eastlake, which moved out to a 5-0 first period lead over the Mariners and led 10-0 entering the final period. The Titans came within 1:50 of recording a shutout before Mar Vista’s Emmanuel Alcaraz scored an unassisted goal.

Seven players scored goals in the game for the Titans, who built a 15-0 lead. Jace White had three goals and two assists while Zach Bannon, Zach White, Jordan Hines and Zach McMahon each were credited with single goals.

Eastlake faced off the season Dec. 11 with a 24-0 non-league victory against Castle Park. In that game, eight Titans picked up points keyed by Justin White with nine goals and two assists and Abuyo with six goals and five assists. McMahon and Zach White each registered hat tricks.

The Eastlake bench boss feels his team may have the most depth of all the South County-based teams in the 16-team conference. “I think we’re very deep based on all the experience the ninth and 10th graders had last year,” Torres said. “I think we have the deepest team in South County. My job is to keep them focused.”

Top returners include Jace White, a sophomore forward, and his older brother Justin White, a junior defenseman, along with senior utilityman Abuyo and Patron, a junior forward. Four more sophomores add experience to this year’s squad: Michael Oleata, McMahon and Alex Bule, all forwards, and Hines, a defenseman.

Impact newcomers include sophomore defenseman J.D. Mayer, Bannon and Zach White, both forwards, and freshman goaltender Darius Newhall.
Both White brothers, Patron, Hines and Newhall all have ice hockey experience.

Newhall posted a shutout in his first-ever varsity roller hockey game and came within 1:50 of making it two consecutive shutouts. The freshman netminder opened the season with a shutout streak of 88:10.

“I think last year it was new to a lot of people on the team — they were still learning the game as we went through our schedule,” Torres said.
Torres said he is counting on the White siblings, as well as Patron, for leadership of what still rates as a very young team. Abuyo remains the player around whom the team revolves, however.

“Andrew is our captain. Everyone on the team looks up to him, even the assistant captains, because they respect him,” Torres said of Abuyo.

Patron led the Titans with six goals in the pivotal early-season showdown against Hilltop. He scored Eastlake’s final three goals of the game — all in the third period — to personally erase a 7-5 Lancers lead. He drew the Titans to within a goal on the scoreboard with 1:46 elapsed in the third period, assisted by Abuyo, and tied the game on a breakaway with 4:42 to play. He got loose to put the Titans up by a goal 26 seconds later. Justin White and Abuyo scored the team’s other two goals.

Eastlake fought through seven penalties in the game, including a game ejection to Justin White for unsportsmanlike conduct early in the final period. The Titans helped their cause with one short-handed goal.

“I thought our freshman goalie made some huge stops in the last minute to preserve the win,” Torres said. “I thought Michael Oleata played some of the best defense I’ve ever seen.”

Jace White (four goals, two assists), Justin White (three goals, two assists) and Patron (three goals, two assists) keyed the offense in the game against Chula Vista. Abuyo had two goals in limited playing time while Hines and Oleata each scored single goals.

The Spartans gave the Titans a bit of trouble early on, with Eastlake holding a 3-1 first-period lead before breaking away in the final two periods. The Titans led 9-1 entering the final period and scored the game’s final 13 goals.

Mesa League standings (winter break): Eastlake 2-0; Hilltop 2-1; Otay Ranch 2-1; Bonita Vista 1-2; Chula Vista 0-3

Sibling revelry
Melendez duo leads Mustangs to 6-1 start

Posted Dec. 23, 2008
The Otay Ranch Mustangs have gotten off to another strong start to the high school roller hockey season after defeating Southwest by a score of 8-4 on Dec. 17 to improve to 6-1 heading into the winter break.

The lone blemish on Otay Ranch’s early season record was a 6-5 loss to Hilltop on Dec. 9. In that game, the teams were tied 5-5 before the Lancers scored with two minutes to play after a power play had expired.

Otherwise, the Mustangs galloped past their early season opponents, defeating Castle Park by a score of 16-0 in the season opener on Dec. 1 and following with victories against Sweetwater (17-2), Mar Vista (10-5), Chula Vista (10-3) and Bonita Vista (11-1).

Two teammates who have played significant roles in the team’s successful start have been the sibling tandem of Madeleine and Carlos Melendez. Carlos returns as one of the team’s top defensemen while Madeleine is a freshman goaltender.

Despite her lack of height, the newest Otay Ranch goaltender has played exceptionally well between the pipes. She opened the season with three periods of shutout goaltending in the team’s opening two wins while splitting time with teammate Ryan Adviento.

She played a complete three periods in the Mustangs’ league win over Bonita Vista on Dec. 16.

“As a freshman, she has been trained as an ice hockey player. I can tell she has been trained by some good coaches,” Otay Ranch head coach Adrian Rodriguez said. “By the next three years, she will be all-league. She’s one of the better goalies in the league.”

Rodriguez said Melendez’s gender has no bearing on her ability to play such a rugged game against upperclassmen males.

“I treat her like everyone else on the team. I never say ‘girl.’ I say ‘player’,” Rodriguez said. “I think that’s what makes this team so great — everyone’s treated just like the others. I expect the best from everyone.”

“Maddy,” as she is known by teammates, has been playing roller hockey since she was 6 and ice hockey since she was 9. She currently plays ice hockey for the L.A. Selects 14-and-under AAA team, one of the top teams in the nation.

But she is definitely enjoying her first-year experience of representing her high school on the rink. She practices and plays for her ice hockey team on weekends.

“It’s very exciting,” Madeleine said. “I’m glad to be playing with another girl.”

That other girl is Danielle McAvenia, who had the honor of scoring the first goal of the 2008-09 CIF/Metro Conference season back on Dec. 1 in Otay Ranch’s 16-0 victory against Castle Park.

“There’s another girl on the team, so it’s easier. We can talk about things that boys can’t,” Madeleine said.

Maddy said it’s “neat” to be playing alongside her older brother. “I’ve known him for a long time, so it’s easy talking to him out there.”

She said her goals her freshman season are “to learn more and have fun.”

Carlos Melendez also plays ice hockey, skating for the Junior Gulls 18-and-under AAA team. He is understandably very supportive of his younger sister and takes pride in her development between the pipes.
As a defender, Carlos Melendez must stay in constant communication with his sister when she is playing the net.

Carlos said the siblings’ key communication ability is galvanized by the fact that both are goaltenders. Carlos began his hockey career playing in net and has moved out of the cage to play roller hockey. He credit's a goaltender’s ability to see the entire rink from the net — and thus read the game — as a key to playing even out as a defenseman.

“We’re both goalies, so communication is easy,” Carlos said. "We know what the other is going to do in a certain situation. She got the goalie idea from watching me. We both have that goalie mentality.”

Carlos has no doubt Maddy will be highly successful before her high school career is over.

“She’s making strides. She’s playing great hockey,” he said.

Hilltop, Eastlake vie for South County prep supremacy

Posted Dec. 17, 2008
The Hilltop Lancers and Eastlake Titans both appear to have set the pace in the early stages of the 2008-09 CIF/Metro Conference roller hockey season. The teams were scheduled to meet Thursday in the first of three Mesa League encounters this season. Each game looks to shake, rattle and roll the playing surface at Skate San Diego in National City.

Eastlake coach Rone Torres used the term "shock and awe" to describe his team.

"We want to win the Mesa League league title with a focus on the playoffs," said Torres, whose team has compiled a record of 31-12 the past two seasons. "That's always our goal. We also want to be the best team out of South County. I think we have a very fast team with good skills and sound defense "

Hilltop won last year's South Bay League championship but moves to the Mesa League this season. The Lancers will find ready-made competition for the league title from Eastlake as well as the Otay Ranch Mustangs. Hilltop edged Otay Ranch, 6-5, on a goal with less than two minutes to play on Dec. 9.

The Lancers improved to 4-2 with a 15-4 non-league win against Sweetwater on Tuesday.

"Before the winter break, we have seven games and I wanted us to go 5-2. After that, the schedule seems to be in our favor," Hilltop coach Dan Vaccaro said.

Andrew Ries had four goals and two assists and Jeremiah Schultz was credited with two goals and four assists in the Lancers' victory against Sweetwater while Ray Cordera and Matthew Kuehn each had two goals and an assist and Tylor Spracklin scored twice. Kyle Heiskala, Alberto Perez, Bobby Rude and Adam Wetzel each were credited with single goals for Hilltop, which opened up a 6-1 first period lead and led 7-3 entering the final period before the Lancers closed out the game with an eight-goal barrage.

Eight players scored goals for Hilltop. Howard Nielson was credited with all four Sweetwater goals..

Ries supplied the dramatic game-winner against Otay Ranch.

Eastlake zoomed past Mar Vista by a score of 15-1 on Tuesday to run its early season record to 2-0. Dante Patron and Andrew Abuyo each had four goals and two assists to pace Eastlake, which moved out to a 5-0 first period lead over the Mariners and led 10-0 entering the final period. The Titans came within 1:50 of recording a shutout before Mar Vista's Emmanuel Alcaraz scored an unassisted goal.

Seven players scored goals in the game for the Titans, who built a 15-0 lead. Jace White had three goals and two assists while Zach Bannon, Zach White, Jordan Hines and Zach McMahon each were credited with single goals.

Eastlake faced off the season Dec. 11 with a 24-0 non-league victory against Castle Park. In that game, eight Titans picked up points keyed by Justin White with nine goals and two assists and Abuyo with six goals and five assists. McMahon and Zach White each registered hat tricks.

The Eastlake bench boss feels his team may have the most depth of all the South County-based teams in the 16-team conference. "I think we're very deep based on all the experience the ninth and 10th graders had last year," Torres said. "I think we have the deepest team in South County. My job is to keep them focused."

Top returners include Jace White, a sophomore forward, and his older brother Justin White, a junior defenseman, along with senior utilityman Abuyo and Patron, a junior forward. Four more sophomores add experience to this year's squad: Michael Oleata, McMahon and Alex Bule, all forwards, and Hines, a defenseman.

Impact newcomers include sophomore defenseman J.D. Mayer, Bannon and Zach White, both forwards, and freshman goaltender Darius Newhall.

Both White brothers, Patron, Hines and Newhall all have ice hockey experience.

Newhall posted a shutout in his first-ever varsity roller hockey game and came within 1:50 of making it two consecutive shutouts. The freshman netminder opened the season with a shutout streak of 88:10.

"I think last year it was a new to a lot of people on the team -- they were still learning the game as we went through our schedule," Torres said.

Torres said he is counting on the White siblings, as well as Patron, for leadership of still what rates as a very young team. Abuyo remains the player around whom the team revolves, however.

"Andrew is our captain. Everyone on the team looks up to him, even the assistant captains, because they respect him," Torres said of Abuyo.

Hilltop's two losses have come against teams from the admittedly superior North County League -- Poway (7-0) and West Hills (3-1). Both scores are deceiving in that the Lancers played their opponents much closer than that flashed on the scoreboard. Poway, which is ranked second overall in the conference, led just 3-0 midway through the non-league match-up while the Wolf Pack scored an empty net goal in a game in which Hilltop fired off 32 shots at West Hills netminder Cameron McIntyre.

Vaccaro called the Lancers' 8-0 league-opening win over Bonita Vista on Dec.8 a "solid win for our team." In that game, Ries racked up five goals while Rude and Kuehn each had a goal and assist. Goaltender Sklyer Travis recorded his second consecutive shutout with nine saves, including several of the acrobatic variety.

"Our guys play well together," Vaccaro said. "We don't have any standout players but a lot of guys who work hard and work well together. They have fun out there. There's a lot of team chemistry this year."

The Lancers rolled onto the court with a season-opening 18-0 non-league win against Castle Park on Dec. 4.

Otay Ranch Mustangs skating to new horizons

Posted Dec. 3, 2008
The CIF/Metro Conference faced off its ninth season Monday at Skate San Diego in National City and one team in particular — the Otay Ranch Mustangs — appears headed for decidedly new horizons.

The Mustangs scored six goals in the second period and seven goals in the third period to make a winner of new head coach Adrian Rodriguez as Otay Ranch rolled to a 16-0 non-league victory over Castle Park.

Rodriguez was the Mustangs’ undisputed first superstar, representing the United States in the AAU Junior World Cup. He now has the final authority on the Mustangs' bench.

If the 2008-09 Otay Ranch team can embrace the game as well as Rodriguez has, the Mustangs could be a force this season in the restructured Mesa League.

"We do have a lot of speed but we have a lot of work to do," said Rodriguez, whose team improved to 2-0 on the young season with a 17-2 non-league victory against Sweetwater on Wednesday. "We have some experienced players and some players who are new to the game. My first goal is to get this team to learn how to play hockey and play well against some of the better teams. A Mesa League title wouldn't hurt."

Top returners include captain Zach Johnson and assistant captains Gabe Beddoes and Carlos Melendez.

Melendez had six goals in Wednesday's game while Johnson had two goals and four assists.

Carlos' sister, goaltender Madeleine Melendez, had not allowed a goal in three periods of play to start the season.

Girl power will apparently help fuel this season's Mustangs. Danielle McAvenia scored the opening goal in conference play, finishing Monday's contest with a hat trick. She had two more goals Wednesday.

Bonita Vista matched the Mustangs' fast start out of the gate by defeating Sweetwater and Castle Park. Barons coach Keith Quigley feels his team has a solid core of returners in brothers Steven and Ryan Micallef, Daniel Ruelas and Felix Garcia. "We're glad to have Jay (Jaehak Shin) back in goal," the BV coach said

The Micallef brothers jump-started the season with 11 goals and four assists between them in two games.

Sixteen teams will compete in the CIF/Metro Conference this season. Vista and La Jolla will not field teams this season while last season's South Bay League and Mesa League champions will switch leagues -- Hilltop to the Mesa League and St. Augustine to the South Bay League.

St. Augustine faced off its season Tuesday with a 12-1 non-league victory against Chula Vista. The Spartans (1-1) grabbed their opening game of the season, 11-7, over Southwest on Monday.

Otay Ranch 16, Castle Park 0
Dec. 1 at Skate San Diego: Otay Ranch's Danielle McAvenia scored the first goal of the 2008-09 season 1:41 into the first period. She finished the game with three goals. Otay Ranch netminders Madeleine Melendez and Ryan Adviento combined to post the first shutout of the season. Melendez played the opening two periods for the Mustangs. Daniel Pacheco (six goals, two assists) and Zach Johnson (one goal, four assists) keyed the Mustangs in scoring while Jeremiah Jodzio collected three goals and an assist. Otay Ranch led 3-0 after the first period against a much-improved Trojan team.

Chula Vista 11, Southwest 7
Dec. 1 at Skate San Diego: Eric Sharp led Chula Vista with four goals and two assists while teammate Daniel Breon also was credited with four goals. Michael Farrell led Southwest with three goals while Ismael Guerrero scored twice for the Raiders. The teams combined for 10 goals in the final period, with Chula Vista out-scoring Southwest 6-4. The Spartans led 5-3 heading into the final period.

Bonita Vista 6, Sweetwater 2
Dec. 1 at Skate San Diego: Steven Micallef led Bonita Vista with three goals and one assist while Evan Simpkins scored twice for the victorious Barons. Robert Felizardo had both Sweetwater goals. The game was tied 2-2 heading into the final period when Bonita Vista exploded for four goals to skate to the win.

St. Augustine 12, Chula Vista 1
Dec. 2 at Skate San Diego: The Saints faced off the season with a 12-1 win over the Spartans in a non-league match-up. Daniel Deiters and Trent Robinson each were credited with four goals while Jordan Jodzio was credited with three goals and four assists. Robinson had five points with an extra assist. Kurt Kerner also was credited with a goal as St. Augustine broke out to a 5-1 first-period lead, upped the lead to 7-1 through two periods and finished the game with five third-period goals. Eric Sharp scored the lone goal for Chula Vista (1-1).

Bonita Vista 11, Castle Park 3
Dec. 2 at Skate San Diego: Bonita Vista powered to a 2-0 start by defeating Castle Park 11-3 behind five goals and two assists from Steven Micallef, three goals and one assist from younger brother Ryan Micallef and three goals from Daniel Ruelas. The game was fairly tight early on, with the Barons holding a 3-1 first-period advantage and a 5-2 lead through two periods before Bonita Vista opened up the non-league contest with six goals in the third period. The Trojans (0-2) got single goals from Eric Balan, Paul Quiones and Hector Sanchez.