The Bonita Vista Barons roller hockey team hasn’t lost to a Sweetwater district opponent over the last two-and-a-half years, beginning with an 8-0 mark in the 2020-21 shortened COVID season, 16-0 record in 2021-22 and 8-0 so far this season. Those numbers add up to a rather lofty 32-0 mark in 32 games.
The Barons skated to a fourth-place finish in last season’s Kiwanis Cup championship playoffs en route to posting a final 17-2 record. In all, Bonita Vista won 25 consecutive games before tasting defeat in the playoff semifinals following a quarterfinal-round victory against Patrick Henry for a cumulative 17-0 start to the 2021-22 season.
Head coach Keith Quigley’s team could be rolling to another monstrous season in 2022-23. The Barons defeated Sweetwater, 12-0, in their season opener and followed with victories against San Ysidro (14-1), Castle Park (12-1), Otay Ranch (12-6 and 11-2), Eastlake (7-1) and Hilltop (16-0 and 12-1). That’s a commanding 96-12 goal-differential.
That’s impressive by anyone’s standards.
“Now that we’ve everybody in the league, we know what’s out there and what we need to do to win more hockey games,” Quigley said. “From Day One the goal for this team has been to win another league title. We know it’s attainable but there’s still plenty of work to do.”
The Barons list 15 players on this season’s roster. Through eight games, 14 players had earned either a goal or assist. The only exception is junior goaltender Eliana Santos, who sports a 1.50 goals-against average in backing up an equally potent defense.
Sophomore Jacob Hunter paces the team with 38 points on 26 goals and 12 assists. He’s followed closely on the scoresheet by freshman Matthew Metcalfe with 23 points on 16 goals and seven assists.
Other top point-getters include senior Brady Murphy with 18 points (11 goals, seven assists), junior Andrew Madrigal with 15 points (10 goals, five assists), senior Noah Burke with 12 points (nine goals, three assists), sophomore Damian Nunes with 10 points (seven goals, three assists), senior Daniel Lule with nine points (four goals, five assists), junior Catherine Wunderly with eight points (six goals, two assists), senior Giovan Espinoza with four points (three goals, one assist), junior Almira Alramadan with three points (one goal, two assists), and freshman Zachary Hackley and junior Tonantzin Murillo each with two points (one goal, one assist). Senior Justin Bonilla and junior Amelie Juneau each had one goal to their credit.
“Some of our newer players have really started to develop their game,” Quigley said. “They have fit really well with this team and have made a difference.”
Hunter rang up four goals in a 12-6 victory against Otay Ranch on Jan. 11 and collected points on all seven goals (five goals, two assists) in a key 7-1 win over Eastlake in a battle of unbeatens on Jan. 18. Hunter racked up four goals and four assists in a 16-0 victory against Hilltop on Jan. 23, four goals and two assists in an 11-2 decision against Otay Ranch on Jan. 24 and four goals against Hilltop on Jan. 26. He’s tallied 17 goals and eight assists in his last four trips to the playing court.
Metcalfe made his high school debut on Dec. 13 with three goals and one assist in a 12-0 non-league victory against Sweetwater and followed that up with a four-point effort (one goal, three assists) in a 14-1 non-league win against San Ysidro. He tallied three goals and two assists for a five-point night in a 12-1 win over Hilltop on Jan. 16.
Photos by Phillip Brents
Murphy has had a breakout season with three goals and three assists in the win over San Ysidro and a hat trick in an ensuing 12-1 non-league win over Castle Park on Jan. 9.
Madrigal had two goals and two assists in the 11-2 win over Otay Ranch while Burke had two goals and two assists in the Jan. 26 victory against Hilltop.
Eastlake faced off the 2022-23 season with a roar by posting a 22-0 win over Sweetwater, a 10-goal mercy rule victory against Mar Vista and a 23-0 non-league win over Castle Park before running into Bonita Vista’s buzzsaw. The Titans rebounded with a 15-4 win over Otay Ranch, 18-1 win over Hilltop and 8-0 rematch win over Otay Ranch to roll to a 6-1 start.
Three players notched five goals each in the season opening win over the Red Devils: Nick Redmond, Chris Rollbusch and George Carver (with one assist). Cash Schreiber collected five points on two goals and three assists while Loren Swisher logged one goal and two assists. Andrew Ibarra had two goals while Emilio Navarrete contributed one goal and one assist. Carlia Woods scored one goal.
Nine Titans scored points in the 18-1 win over Hilltop, led by Schreiber with four goals and three assists, Carver with four goals and one assist and Navarrete with three goals and two assists. Redmond had two goals and two assists while Rollbusch had three assists. Andrew Ibarra had two goals while Morgan had one goal and one assist. Julian Blashing and Swisher rounded out scoring with a goal each.
Eastlake received points from six players in the 8-0 shutout win over eastside rival Otay Ranch. Rollbusch netted a hat trick while Scheiber dished out four assists. Navarrete was credited with three goals and one assist while Swisher and Adam Ibarra both had one goal. Carver had one assist. Akemi Scott posted the shutout between the pipes.
Rollbusch, a freshman, has been a pleasant addition after tallying 22 points (17 goals, five assists) in the team’s opening seven games. He blew the game open against Castle Park with six goals and one assist and recorded six points (three goals, three assists) in the 18-1 and 8-0 wins over Hilltop and Otay Ranch, respectively.
He had the lone Eastlake goal in the loss to the Barons.
Overall, Schreiber tops the Titans in season scoring with 29 points (11 goals, 18 assists), followed by Rollbusch and Carver (15 goals, seven assists) with 22 points, Navarrete with 21 points (15 goals, six assists) and Redmond with 15 points (13 goals, two assists) and Andrew Ibarra with 13 points (12 goals, 1 assist).
Otay Ranch has been consistently led on the scoresheet by Nick Bernal with three goals and two assists in a 7-1 non-league win over San Ysidro on Jan. 12 and four goals in a 9-0 win over Hilltop on Jan. 18.
Hilltop started strong with a 9-0 non-league win over Castle Park, 10-8 win over San Ysidro and forfeit win over Mar Vista to match the Barons and Titans with a 3-0 record out of the chute. But the Lancers ran into Otay Ranch (9-0 loss) and Bonita Vista (16-0 loss) to face off Mesa League play.
Sophomore Aariel Nichols got Hilltop rolling in its season opener with six goal and one assist while adding six goals in the win over San Ysidro for 12 goals and 13 points in the Lancers’ opening two games. Junior Gianni Sylvia-Cestero and senior Nathan Ladd-Flores both scored three goals in the team’s opening three games.
The San Ysidro Cougars (2-3 overall) topped the four South Bay League teams in games through Jan. 24 with a 3-0 league start, followed by the Castle Park Trojans at 1-0-1 in league (1-3-1 overall), Mar Vista Mariners at 0-2-1 in league (0-5-1 overall) and Sweetwater at 0-2 in league (0-5 overall).
Senior Grant Faucher has been the catalyst for front-running San Ysidro. He scored seven goals in a 10-8 non-league loss to Hilltop on Jan. 9 and had two goals in a 4-0 win over Sweetwater on Jan. 19 to help propel the Cougars to a 4-0 start in league play (4-3 overall).
He was particularly pin-point deadly accurate with seven goals and eight assists in a back-to-back sweep of Mar Vista on Jan. 24 and Castle Park on Jan. 25 to close out last week’s schedule. He had seven points (three goals, four assists) in the 11-3 win over Castle Park.
Sweetwater District Standings (through Jan. 26)
Mesa League
Bonita Vista 4-0, 7-0
Eastlake 1-1, 4-1
Otay Ranch 1-3, 4-3
Hilltop 0-2, 3-2
South Bay League
San Ysidro 3-0, 3-3
Castle Park 2-0-1, 2-3-1
Mar Vista 0-3-1, 0-6-1
Sweetwater 1-3, 1-6
CIF-Metro Conference Schedule
Sweetwater district teams
Tuesday, Jan. 17
Hilltop vs. Eastlake, ppd to Feb. 2, wet grounds
Castle Park vs. San Ysidro, ppd to Feb. 2, wet grounds
Sweetwater vs. Mar Vista, ppd to Feb. 2, wet grounds
Wednesday, Jan. 18
Bonita Vista 7, Eastlake 1
Otay Ranch 9, Hilltop 0
Thursday, Jan. 19
Castle Park 2, Mar Vista 2
San Ysidro 4, Sweetwater 0
Monday, Jan. 23
Bonita Vista 16, Hilltop 0
Eastlake 15, Otay Ranch 4
Castle Park 4, Sweetwater 3
Tuesday, Jan. 24
Bonita Vista 11, Otay Ranch 2
San Ysidro defeated Mar Vista, score unavailable
Wednesday, Jan. 25
Eastlake 18, Hilltop 1
San Ysidro 10, Castle Park 4
Sweetwater 2, Mar Vista 1
Thursday, Jan. 26
Bonita Vista 12, Hilltop 1
Eastlake 8, Otay Ranch 0
Castle Park 5, Sweetwater 2
