Eastlake rolls amazing roller hockey record to 24-0

The Eastlake High School roller hockey team has turned in a season like no other Sweetwater Union High School District team in the 18-year history of the district-sponsored CIF-Metro Conference.

And it’s not over.

The Titans rolled their magical, if not somewhat astounding, record to 24-0 after defeating the Cathedral Catholic Dons, 7-4, Monday night in a quarterfinal-round Kiwanis Cup playoff game at the Castle Park High School outdoor rink.

Fourth-seeded Eastlake now advances to Wednesday’s semifinal match-up against the top-seeded Rancho Bernardo Broncos. Face off is 6 p.m. at the Escondido Sports Center.

Rancho Bernardo improved its charmed season record to 18-1 following Monday’s quarterfinal-round 10-0 win over eighth-seeded Poway at the Escondido venue.

The Titans never trailed in Monday’s playoff game but had to fend off some adversity midway through the final period when the hard-charging Dons (8-12) cut the Eastlake lead to one goal.

But the Mesa League champions failed to get flustered and were rewarded for their perseverance with two late goals by senior Will Hamilton to secure the victory.

“Their goalie (Cathedral’s Patrick Henson) was unbelievable,” first-year EHS head coach Rick Haislip said after the game. “We kept fighting and fighting to get that puck in the net. This was the second time that we played Cathedral this year. They are a very competitive team.

“We’re taking it one game at a time. We play Rancho Bernardo next. We’ve got to play all out – the best of the best.”

Fortunes favored the Titans early. Sophomore scoring standout Braden Mayer scored just 10 seconds into the game off a feed from teammate Luke Killeen.

The Eastlake lead quickly ballooned to 3-0 after Mayer scored on a wraparound shot and Hamilton then crushed a shot into the back of the net with 3:10 left in the first period.

Cathedral’s Matt Dammeyer was called for a hooking penalty with 1:02 left in the opening period and the Titans had a golden opportunity to extend their lead to 4-0 after winning the puck to face off the second period and promptly sent a player in on a breakaway.

But Henson turned aside the shot.

He continued to repel shots to keep his team within striking distance on the scoreboard. The Dons did indeed strike back.

Sam Lathus, who did not play in the teams’ mid-January non-league encounter (won 3-2 by Eastlake), scored goals 2:15 apart early in the second period to narrow the EHS lead to 3-2.

But the Titans’ high-powered offense continued to hum as Hamilton and Killeen each scored critical goals in the latter stages of the period to increase the Eastlake lead to 5-2.

Mayer supplied the assist on both goals.

Jake Powell was whistled for an interference penalty at the end of the middle period and the Dons faced off the third period with a power play. The Dons capitalized with a goal with a minute elapsed in the period to trim the Titan lead to 5-3.

Jake Belland drew the assist on the Lathus hat trick goal, Belland’s second helper of the contest.

It was during this stretch that Henson played his most brilliant, stopping a series of golden scoring opportunities to deny Eastlake from running away with the win. Henson stopped Mayer on a clean breakaway to keep the Dons within striking distance once again.

Lathus received a hooking penalty with 8:39 left in the game and it appeared as if the Titans might finally crack Henson’s armor.

But the Dons turned misfortune into fortune as Belland scored a shorthanded goal on a rocket shot from just inside the center red line to make the score 5-4.

Henson promptly stopped Mayer on another breakaway and the momentum began to turn to Cathedral Catholic’s side.

EHS goaltender Elian Ramirez then took his turn to stand on his head, as the hockey phrase goes, as he repeatedly denied the Dons the game-tying goal.

But Hamilton, who proved to be in the right place at the right time all game long, left his imprint on the game by burying a shot past Henson with 1:29 to play to cap an odd-man rush and give the Titans a much-needed two-goal lead at 6-4.

The Dons pulled Henson with 1:09 left but Eastlake either managed to pin the puck along the boards or disrupt passes to thwart Cathedral Catholic from setting up in the EHS defensive zone.

Hamilton was credited with his third goal of the game on a crazy bounce off the boards into the empty net with 15 seconds to play to seal yet another history-making win for the Titans.

24-0: it’s almost too hard to believe. But it’s true.

Haislip admitted the early cushion on the scoreboard help play into his team’s winning hand.

“That was huge,” the Eastlake coach said. “We were up and didn’t have to come back. We could concentrate on playing defense.”

In the Titans’ case, of course, the best defense proved the best offense.

Despite nursing a one-goal lead late in the game, Eastlake may have been at it’s most dangerous.

“They became very aggressive,” Haislip said in regard to the Dons. “We kept battling and the momentum went back to our side. Our players always come up in the clutch, and they did it again tonight.”

Mayer finished the game with two goals and two assists to lead the winners with four points in the game. Hamilton netted a hat trick while Killeen collected one goal and two assists.

Lathus paced Cathedral Catholic with three goals while Belland chipped in with one goal and two assists.

Eastlake’s speed and passing link-ups stood out in the win. More of the same will be called on if the Titans are to advance to next Monday’s championship game.

Hanging 10
Rancho Bernardo assistant captain Nik Thomas scored five goals while captain Miles Cook added two goals and two assists in the Broncos’ 10-0 shutout win over Poway (4-17). RB goaltender Ethan Shute stopped all nine shots he faced to record the shutout victory.

The Broncos, regular season North County League champions, built leads of 3-0 after the first period and 6-0 through two periods before closing out the playoff contest with four goals in the third period.

Alex Pang scored what proved to be the game-winning goal 7:46 into the game. Pang finished the matchup with one goal and three assists.

Rancho Bernardo received points from seven players. Ike Frankel contributed one goal and one assist while Tyler Bodges each scored one goal. Kiril Yamplosky collected four assists while Aidan Baldwin was credited with one assist.

Scripps Ranch 13, Patrick Henry 4
The seventh-seeded Patriots took an early 1-0 lead but the combination of Matt Gauthier and Cody Sherman proved too much to handle as the second-seeded Falcons went on to record an eight-goal victory. Gauthier led Scripps Ranch with five goals and two assists while Sherman contributed six points on three goals and three assists.

Matt Russell led the Patriots with two goals while Clint Allen and Matthew Voegel each scored once.

“We are looking forward to next year,” Patrick Henry coach Chuck Russell said. “Although we are losing two key seniors — Clint Allen and Cameron Elswick — we have a solid core of seniors returning. Senior Clint Allen scored in his last game, assisted by Aiden Elswick and Matt Russell. One of Matt’s goals was assisted by Tyler Daniel.”

The quarterfinal playoff appearance was the first in school history for Patrick Henry and the Patriots made a statement when Allen was credited with the game’s opening goal at 1:09 of the first period. However, the Falcons promptly responded by scoring the next four goals in the game and ended the opening period with a secure 5-2 lead.

Scripps Ranch tacked on three second period goals to extend its lead to 8-2. The teams combined for eight goals in the third period — five by the Falcons.

Scripps Ranch out-shot Patrick Henry 31-17 in the game.

Kyle Fraser recorded three goals and one assist in the win while Cody Ayers collected one goal and two assists. Israel Yates scored the final goal of the game for the Falcons, who led 11-3 midway through the third period.

Allen was credited with two goals in the game for the Pats while Matt Russell was credited with one goal and one assist.

Westview 7, Escondido Charter 5
Escondido Charter took a 2-0 lead on goals by Bryce Mendoza before defending Kiwanis Cup champion Westview mounted a comeback.

The White Tigers led the Wolverines 3-1 after the first period and 4-3 after two periods.

However, Escondido Charter failed to score on a two-man advantage in the mid portion of the game, and the missed opportunity would come back to haunt the White Tigers.

Westview made the score 2-1 late in the opening period on a goal by Ben Goodard, assisted by Laurent Lee. However, Escondido Charter responded in kind with Mendoza’s hat trick goal, assisted by teammate Zac Miszkiewicz, with just two seconds left on the score clock in the period.

The Wolverines, however, retaliated with two goals just 23 seconds apart early in the second period to tie the game 3-3. But Miszkiewicz, assisted by Mendoza, scored with 3:48 remaining in the middle period to put the White Tigers back in front 4-3.

The Wolverines tied the game, 4-4, early in the third period. Escondido Charter then took a 5-4 lead just 26 seconds later on Miszkiewicz’s second goal of the game. Westview tied the game with 12:33 to play. The Wolverines scored two goals — one by Tyler Lee with 5:44  left and another by Gavin Lissebeck with 5:01 left — and hung on for a two-goal victory.

Kiwanis Cup Playoff Scoreboard

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