Hilltop girls field hockey team still making adjustments in new season

09/20/2018

web_1706team — The Hilltop High School girls field hockey team has faced off a new era on campus with the school's new artificial turf field. Photo by Phillip Brents

The Hilltop High School girls field hockey team has entered into a new era with the unveiling of the school’s new state-of-the-art artificial turf field. But the goal remains the same, according to head coach Janine Dare.

“Hilltop is looking to bring back the banner this year,” she said. “The squad has a full season playing together and the team is building a strong bond each week.”

So far, the Lancers (0-7) have played an extremely challenging non-league schedule in preparation for Friday’s conference opener at Castle Park (7 p.m. start).

Hilltop inaugurated its new field with a 5-0 loss to visiting Rancho Buena Vista on Aug. 28, lost 6-0 at Westview on Sept. 6, dropped a 6-1 home contest to University City on Sept. 12, was shut out 5-0 at Bishop’s on Sept. 13 and finished 0-3 with losses to Vista, Mission Vista and Torrey Pines at last weekend’s Serra tournament.

Besides adjusting to compete against high-powered competition, Dare said her team is continuing to adjust to its new home field which is now minus all the bumps, clumps and potholes of the former grass field.

“It’s a brand new game on turf in terms of fielding the ball, pace and skill, it’s a much faster game,” explained Dare, whose team finished 10-2 in league play last season, 12-9-2 overall.

“When we go to the CIF playoffs, we must play on a turf field; in the past this has been a disadvantage for us. Now we will have nothing to worry about.”

Top returning players for Hilltop include junior midfielder Kassandra Loredo, junior goalkeeper Neveah Armenta and junior midfielder Arianna Bergado.

Other seniors on the roster include Melody Rendon, Mia Morey and Sonya Loredo. Amber Plasencia is a junior.

Sophomore Juliana Sanchez was a starter on last year’s junior varsity team.

Dare said the school’s new playing surface has created more enthusiasm and excitement among the players. She hopes more success will follow in the win column.

Metro preview
Eight Metro Conference schools are fielding teams this season. Defending Mesa League champion Eastlake is off to a 4-0 non-league start while Bonita Vista is 3-1 in non-league games.

Eastlake returns nine starters from last year’s league championship team.

Returning players include senior Taylor Tropp, the 2017 Mesa League Player of the Year (and varsity softball player), senior midfielder Britney Buu (all league), senior defender Marissa Garcia (all league), junior midfielder Olivia Sekimoto, senior defender Arianna Lorenzana and junior defender Tori Inumerable.

Top impact newcomers include junior goalkeeper Kailey Uribe and junior defender Sierra Tufts (also varsity softball pitcher).

Eastlake finished 12-0 in league play last season, 20-1 overall. The top-seeded Titans carried a commanding 20-0 record into the San Diego Section Division II semifinals before being shut out, 2-0, by fourth-seeded Mission Hills.

There is much motivation to succeed this season, according to head coach Robert Blas.

Not only does the team desire to repeat as league champions but the section playoffs offer a unique twist: the CIF finals are scheduled this year at Eastlake High School.

“The girls are motivated to repeat as Mesa League champions and retain the No. 1 seed in Division II playoffs and advance to the CIF finals which will be held at Eastlake High this year,” Blas explained. “We’ve beefed up our schedule to play North County teams: Poway, Cathedral Catholic and Bishop’s.”

Victories so far have come against La Jolla Country Day (10-0 on Sept. 7), Poway (1-0 on Sept. 11), El Cajon Valley (9-0 last Friday) and El Capitan (2-0 on Monday).

The Titans host Clairemont (4-1) on Friday (3 p.m. start). Eastlake will play Bishop’s on Sept. 25 and Cathedral Catholic on Oct. 2.

Eastlake faces off Mesa League play Oct. 4 with a home game against Bonita Vista.

New beginnings
Otay Ranch finished fifth deep in the Mesa League standings last season with a 3-9 league record, 3-19 overall. The team graduated four senior athletes in advance of this season.

Mustang head coach Ashley Keeline (Hilltop High School alumnus) noted a number of changes for the 2018 season:

New leagues designated for field hockey in the Metro Conference include Mesa and South Bay leagues. Otay Ranch will play Castle Park, Chula Vista and Olympian twice and Hilltop, Eastlake and Southwest once each.

Otay Ranch will field two teams beginning this year: separate junior varsity and varsity teams. Graduated senior Jacqueline Beas will coach the JV team.

The inaugural season for middle school field hockey in the conference took place last spring, and has already made an impact.

Rancho Del Rey serves as a feeder school to both Otay Ranch and Olympian high schools. The Mustangs have thus received four players with at least one year of experience prior to high school. Two of those athletes made the varsity team and two made the JV team.

Keeline noted that four former Rancho Del Rey players made the varsity program at Olympian High School.

Keeline noted further that players returning from injuries will impact Otay Ranch’s defense and forward lines.

Top varsity returners for the 2018 season include senior forward Alyssa Florendo, junior defense (sweeper) Alycia Munoz and junior goalkeeper Isabella Colcleaser.

Florendo and Munoz are both serving as captains.

Impact newcomers for the varsity season include freshmen Ainsley Schafer and Sabrina Oostburg, both from Rancho del Rey’s inaugural program.

Rancho del Rey finished in second place overall among those teams participating in the inaugural season.

Otay Ranch faced off the season with a 3-0 non-league win over Valhalla on Aug. 23, but has since dropped matches against Santana (7-0 on Aug. 30), San Marcos (10-0 on Sept. 4), Scripps Ranch (13-0 on Sept. 10) and Del Norte (8-0), Scripps Ranch (6-0) and Rancho Buena Vista (11-0) as part of last weekend’s Serra tournament.

The Mustangs came up short to Mt. Carmel, losing 6-0 in a non-league game on Tuesday.

Otay Ranch hosts University City in another non-league game on Sept. 27 before hitting a run of 10 consecutive games against Metro Conference opponents to close out regular season play.

Around the conference
Chula Vista opened its season with a 1-2 record, recording a 1-0 win over Valhalla on Aug. 29.

In a trio of tournament games played on Sept. 8, Olympian picked up wins over Chula Vista (1-0) and Morse (6-0) while falling to Valhalla (1-0).

Bonita Vista opened the season with a 1-0 loss to San Marcos on Aug. 23 but since recorded victories against Mission Bay (6-0 on Aug. 31), Escondido (2-1 on Sept. 5) and La Jolla Country Day (3-0 on Tuesday).

Southwest, which finished third in league play last season, has opened the season with four games against East County opponents. The Raiders defeated Valhalla by a 1-0 score on Sept. 8 and dropped a 3-2 overtime decision the the Norsemen on Sept. 12. Southwest opened the season with a 6-0 loss to Santana on Aug. 24 and lost, 4-0, to El Capitan on Wednesday.