The Bonita Vista High School girls field hockey team didn’t quite finish off a perfect season but the Barons did enough damage to earn this year’s Metro Conference championship banner.
The defending league champion Hilltop Lancers ended Bonita Vista’s unbeaten run through the league with a 4-0 victory on Monday. But the season-ending victory over the Barons wasn’t nearly enough to enable the Lancers to repeat.
Bonita Vista finished 7-1 in league play; Hilltop finished 5-3 in a tie for second place.
The Barons celebrated their league championship on Nov. 4 after eking out a 1-0 victory over a vastly improved Chula Vista team. Mailyn Nishiguchi scored the game’s lone goal in the final two minutes of regulation play, assisted by Sarah Lim.
The win over the Spartans pushed Bonita Vista to 7-0 in league play with one league game remaining — enough to commence the hoopla.
BV coach Ernesto Luna said the key to the Barons’ success on the pitch was a key defensive move early in the season: Senior Vivian Adame, a forward for two years, moved to sweeper to anchor the Baron defense.
“As a coach, you want to identify the talent you have and where that talent is best suited on the team,” he said.
The Barons (14-4 overall) put themselves in position to claim this year’s title by edging preseason favorite Otay Ranch, 1-0, in strokes on Nov. 1. The Barons withstood a penalty shot by the Mustangs in the final second of overtime to take the game into strokes.
Hilltop finished regular season play 8-10-1. The Lancers received goals in Monday’s game from Michelle Manibusan, Courtney Creel, Chelsea Ventura and Rachel Vasquez while Shannon Malone recorded the shutout win.
While Bonita Vista is the league’s automatic playoff qualifier, both Hilltop and Otay Ranch await possible selection as at-large playoff entrants.
