Dan Vacarro is still involved with the Hilltop High School roller hockey team, and the Lancers appear to be one of the stronger Sweetwater district teams this season in the CIF-Metro Conference. Hilltop improved to 3-0 on the young season after dispatching Chula Vista, 9-0, in non-league play Wednesday at the Castle Park High School rink.
“The important things is that we’ve got kids interested in playing roller hockey,” Vacarro explained. “We’ve managed to keep it moving.”
Vacarro’s Lancers won the first-ever Metro Conference championship, going undefeated at 13-0-1 in the conference’s trailblazing 2000-01 season.
Other programs have risen to the challenge in the intervening years but Hilltop remains the district’s longest-running team.
Junior Andrew Tesner and sophomore Danny Godinez are the team’s standouts this season. Tesner collected five goals in Wednesday’s win over the Spartans and had four goals in Tuesday’s 13-0 non-league victory against Sweetwater.
Godinez scored both goals in the Lancers’ 2-1 non-league win over Southwest last Friday. He had a goal and two assists in the win over Chula Vista and picked up two goals and four assists in the win over Sweetwater.
Esteban Martinez, one of Hilltop’s most improved players, scored four goals against Sweetwater and had two goals against Chula Vista.
In three games, Tesner has accumulated nine goals while Godinez has five goals and six assists.
In another season opening game last Friday, Otay Ranch blanked Chula Vista, 11-0, behind three goals and four assists from Devyn Taras and three goals from David Mendez. Jose Luis Garcia and Joseph Santiago shared credit for the shutout between the pipes.
In another non-league game on Tuesday, Otay Ranch fell, 9-4, to the St. Augustine Saints. Taras had three goals and one assist.
Bonita Vista closed out Wednesday’s double-header at the CPHS rink with a 5-2 non-league win over Mar Vista. The game was scoreless after the opening period before the Barons broke the tie on a goal by Leonel Gurrola in the second period.
The teams combined for five goals in the final period, with Bonita Vista potting the first three to build a 4-0 edge on the scoreboard. Gurrola had two of them.
Mar Vista broke up BV goaltender Hawk Anderson’s shutout bid to make the score 4-1 but Michelle Dunnells tacked on a goal to give the Barons back their four-goal lead.
Adrian Contreras led the Mariners with two goals. Matt Custodio also scored once for Bonita Vista while Avori Schenck added one assist for the victors.
BVHS coach Keith Quigley was happy that his team picked up a win in its first game of the season, and let his players know that after the contest. The Barons started the game out slow while getting its defensive alignment in position before gradually moving up court to take offensive charge of the game against MV netminder Eloy Rodriguez.
“Definitely excited to start off the season with a win,” Quigley explained. “We’ve been working hard the last couple weeks of practice. From Day One the players have been very focused on improving individually and improving as a team. With so many new players on this team, I’m glad they now have at least one game under their belt.”
Titans triumph
Defending Mesa League champion Eastlake faced off its season on Tuesday with a 17-1 non-league win over Castle Park. Record-setting scorer Aaron Mayer contributed seven goals and one assist to the effort. The Titans led, 11-0, after two periods.
Despite the blowout win, EHS coach Ron Cole remains cautious about how his team stacks up against the rest of the district.
“We have some rough edges on our team game right now,” Cole assessed. “We have some good individual skills but need to work more on our team skills. If you ask me about the other teams in the league, I can’t really say too much. The only team we know anything about right now is Castle Park after playing them. We’ll just play it as it comes.”
The Titans are integrated several newcomers into this season’s lineup, including freshmen Percilla Mayer (Aaron’s younger sister) and William Hamilton, both of whom picked up their first-ever high school varsity points in Tuesday’s season debut. The younger Mayer had one goal while Hamilton had two assists.
Other newcomers to make a splash included Brandon Benson, who picked up his first-ever goal, Sean Layton, who had two assists, and Brian Anderson, who had one assist. Junior goalie Kevin Hooks allowed just one goal in his varsity debut.
“I think we had four new players on the bench for our opener,” Cole said. “I’m excited to have new young good players. My task is to teach them to play as a team.”
Eastlake is driven by a trio of veteran players: Mayer, Sam Bawden and Michael Mechling.
Mayer set a conference record last season with 158 points. In Tuesday’s opener, Bawden collected four goals and two assists while Mechling had three goals.
Mayer, now a senior, was visibly enjoying himself on the rink, especially in appreciation of the play of his teammates.
“Aaron has really learned more about participating in team play,” Cole said. “He’s become more of a team player.”
Northern exposure
In North County League games played Wednesday at the Escondido Sports Center:
Rancho Bernardo 10, Poway 5
Bailey and Spencer Ridout each had two goals for the victorious Broncos (3-0) while Nick Wagner and Ryan Wilson each had three assists. Eric Wright scored all five goals for Poway.
Westview 7, Scripps Ranch 6 (overtime)
A great back-and-forth affair between the teams saw freshman Matt Gautheir put the Falcons ahead with three minutes to play, but the Wolverines tied it on a power play goal. Josh Morrison scored the game winner in OT for Westview. Morrison had two goals and one assist for the Wolverines while Yves Wagner netted three goals. For Scripps, Jesse Lycan had four goals and one assist while Gauthier contributed one goal and three assists and Shaun Simmons scored one goal.
In a Central League game played on Wednesday, St. Augustine handed La Jolla Country Day a 10-2 setback. Nick Heid, Ian Harkness and Charlie Tomlin each had three goals for the Saints.
Fast start for Broncos
The defending Kiwanis Cup champion Broncos faced off the 2014-15 season with a 10-2 on-league victory against St. Augustine on Dec. 1. Senior Alex Pellietter played in the net with classmate Josh Christie out with injury. Sophomore Bailey Ridout led RB with five goals and senior Spencer Ridout scored three times.
Nick Heid and Dominic Cianflone scored single goals for the Saints.
The Broncos advanced their record to 2-0 with a 12-6 North County League win over Scripps Ranch on Dec. 8. Josh Christie played in the net while Spencer Ridout blasted the Falcons defense with seven goals.
Westview rolled out a promising season debut by walloping La Jolla Country Day, 17-1, on Dec. 1 in non-league play. Scott Hord led Westview with four goals and Yves Wagner and Sam Tari each had three goals
Mustangs are fast and furious in posting 11-2 win over Raiders
The Otay Ranch Mustangs appear fast and formidable this season under the direction of coach Adrian Rodriguez.
“We play what is a 1-2-1 style but it’s a fast-paced game,” Rodriguez explained. “We control the puck. If the puck is in our control, we control the game. We’re very patient, too.”
The Mustangs put every point of their game into action to defeat the Southwest Raiders, last year’s South Bay League champion, by a score of 11-2 in non-league action Thursday at the Castle Park High School roller rink.
Otay Ranch’s win was impressive and left one wondering if a Mesa League championship could be on order this season.
“Our goal is to win league,” Rodriguez said. “We should be 3-0 right now but we beat ourselves against St. Augustine (a 9-4 non-league loss on Tuesday). They scored four times when we had the power play.”
The Mustangs’ game isn’t perfect but it certainly provided a challenge for the Raiders, who went 16-0 against Sweetwater district competition last season. Otay Ranch improved to 2-0 in district competition this season. The Mustangs faced off the 2014-15 campaign with an 11-0 non-league win over Chula Vista last Friday.
The three offensive stars of the game for Otay Ranch were Devyn Taras (three goals, five assists), David Mendez (five goals, one assists) and Ricardo Portillo (one goal, three assists).
Also tacking on goals were Milo Bivens and Ryan Tibago while Andrew DeGuzman contributed one assist.
Jose Luis Garcia played the first period in the net, with relief help from teammate Joseph Santiago over the last two periods. Each goaltender allowed just one goal.
Jose Andrade, a star attraction last season for Southwest, kept the score from getting out of hand.
The Mustangs outscored the Raiders 6-1 in the second period, and finished with a 9-1 edge in goals over the last two periods after holding a 2-1 edge after the first period. Otay Ranch seemed to get stronger as the game went on. Mendez just beat the final buzzer with a goal at 14:59 of the third period, assisted by Taras, to the delight of the Mustangs’ vocal contingent of fans attending the game.
Joshua Lopez scored both goals for Southwest, which dropped to 0-2 in district play to start the season.
Otay Ranch finished the game with one power play and one short-handed goal.
In another non-league game on Thursday:
Castle Park 6, Bonita Vista 1
The Barons controlled most of the opening period but the Trojans steadily built momentum to seal their first win of the new season. Bonita Vista dropped to 1-1 with the loss.
The opening period ended in a 1-1 standoff. David Lopez put Castle Park up 1-0 before the Barons notched the equalizer off the stick of Angel Ortega. The Trojans scored the next five goals in the game, including three in the second period to take a 4-1 lead and two more to close out the game in the final period.
Miguel Flores, Marvin Cirignano and Jacob Ayala each scored goals in the second period while Cirignano and Flores each scored in the final period.
Ayala finished the game with a goal and assist while Cirignano and Flores each tallied two goals.
BV goaltender Hawk Anderson was kept busy fielding – and blocking – pucks over the duration of the last two periods as the CP offense came alive.
“Today was definitely an early season wake up call for us,” BVHS coach Keith Quigley said. “Castle Park out-played us and simply wanted the game more. We have many new players on this team and I want them to learn early on in the season what it takes to win in this league. You have to work hard for three periods — 45 minutes. We worked hard in spurts.”
Saints edge Wolf Pack, 7-6, to claim Central League opener
Nick Heid had four goals and one assist and Charlie Tomlin added a goal and two assists to lift the St. Augustine Saints to a 7-6 victory against the West Hills Wolf Pack in the Central League opener for both teams Dec. 3 at Skate San Diego in El Cajon. Dominic Cianflone and Ian Harkness each had a goal and assist for St. Augustine, which also received an assist from Jay Farrell. Cade Frederick had six goals to power West Hills, which scored twice in the final 30 seconds to make the game close.
PUCKidz awarded grant by Bill Belichick Foundation
Bill Belichick recently announced that PUCKidz, Inc., a nonprofit organization, founded and run by Keith Quigley, is one of only seven organizations across the United States to have been awarded a $5,000 grant from the Bill Belichick Foundation.
“It is almost impossible to express how elated I was when I received the news that PUCKidz was awarded this grant!” Quigley, founder and owner of PUCKidz, Inc. exclaimed. “I am looking forward to expanding my various sports programs, and lacrosse in particular, to include a number of schools in the Chula Vista/San Diego area. PUCKidz will work closely with the principals in the targeted schools to reach out to the children who would have been denied the lifelong benefits of our programs without full or partial scholarships now made possible through the Belichick grant.
“As a big time sports fan, Bill Belichick has always inspired me as a coach,” Quigley added, “but I am also inspired by his ongoing generosity, humanity and philanthropy off the field to so many deserving individuals and organizations.”
PUCKidz (Positive Understandable Coaching for Kidz) was founded in 2009 by Keith Quigley and became a non-profit organization in 2012 in order to be able to bring its various sports programs to the area school districts. Besides the school programs, PUCKidz offers sports lessons (private or group), vacation and summer camps in lacrosse, hockey, and other sports. PUCKidz also offers club lacrosse teams for all ages.
For more information and/or to donate on-line visit the website at http://www.puckidz.net. Also, like “PUCKidz” on Facebook and follow @PUCKidz on Twitter.
CIF-Metro Conference Rankings
(Sweetwater district teams)
1. Otay Ranch Mustangs (2-1)
2. Eastlake Titans (1-0)
3. Hilltop Lancers (3-0)
4. Southwest Raiders (0-2)
5. Castle Park Trojans (1-1)
6. Bonita Vista Barons (1-1)
7. Mar Vista Mariners (0-1)
8. Chula Vista Spartans (0-2)
9. Sweetwater Red Devils (0-1)
Top 10 Conference Teams
(Based on reported results)
1. Rancho Bernardo Broncos (3-0)
2. Cathedral Catholic Dons (1-0)
3. Westview Wolverines (2-0)
4. Poway Titans (1-1)
5. Scripps Ranch Falcons (0-2)
6. St. Augustine Saints (3-1)
7. West Hills Wolf Pack (0-3)
8. Otay Ranch Mustangs (2-1)
9. Eastlake Titans (1-0)
10. La Jolla Country Day Torreys (0-2)
Non-League Results
Monday, Dec. 1
Westview 17, La Jolla Country Day 1
Rancho Bernardo 10, St. Augustine 2
Wednesday, Dec. 3
Castle Park vs. Hilltop, postponed wet grounds
Chula Vista vs. Otay Ranch, postponed wet grounds
Thursday, Dec. 4
Bonita Vista vs. Sweetwater, postponed wet grounds
Eastlake vs. Mar Vista, postponed wet grounds
Friday, Dec. 5
Otay Ranch 11, Chula Vista 0
Hilltop 2, Southwest 1
Monday, Dec. 8
Poway 11, West Hills 0
Tuesday. Dec. 9
Eastlake 17, Castle Park 1
Hilltop 13, Sweetwater 0
St. Augustine 9, Otay Ranch 4
Wednesday, Dec. 10
Hilltop 9, Chula Vista 0
Bonita Vista 5, Mar Vista 2
Thursday, Dec. 11
Castle Park 6, Bonita Vista 1
Otay Ranch 11, Southwest 2
North County League Results
Wednesday, Dec. 3
Poway vs. Westview, game postponed
Monday, Dec. 8
Rancho Bernardo 12, Scripps Ranch 6
Wednesday, Dec. 10
Rancho Bernardo 10, Poway 5
Westview 7, Scripps Ranch 6 (OT)
Central League Results
Wednesday, Dec. 3
St. Augustine 7, West Hills 6
Cathedral Catholic vs. La Jolla Country Day, game postponed
Wednesday, Dec. 10
St. Augustine 10, La Jolla Country Day 2
Cathedral Catholic 9, West Hills 1
