Hilltop Lancers move to the head of the class among Sweetwater district roller hockey teams

The Hilltop Lancers haven’t won any title yet but they continue to pick up wins in the early part of the season that has helped them compile an undefeated 6-0 record – tops among the CIF-Metro Conference’s 10 Sweetwater district teams.

The Lancers picked up three wins last week, including a key 6-5 Mesa League win over Castle Park in overtime to move into sole possession of first place in the league standings. They faced off this week with two more Mesa League wins — 12-7 over Otay Ranch on Tuesday (Dec. 18) and 10-3 over Bonita Vista on Thursday (Dec. 20) — to remain unbeaten in league play.

Hilltop’s Trevor Fune (eight goals) and Otay Ranch’s Sean Devaney (seven goals) dueled it out for top scorer in Tuesday’s game played at the Castle Park High School outdoor rink.

Fune reeled off the first eight goals for the Lancers before turning over scoring duties to teammate Kristin Lambertson (two goals, three assists). Devaney scored all seven goals for the Mustangs in the loss.

Hilltop led, 7-3, before finishing with the five-goal victory.

Green machine
Hilltop faced off the previous week with a 12-3 non-league win over Sweetwater on Dec. 11. The scoring was spread around with five players netting goals.

Macias keyed the Lancers with four goals while Lambertson notched four points on two goals two assists. Fune scored three goals while Justin Sanchez contributed two goals and one assist. Niko Sandoval rounded out the Hilltop scoring barrage with one goal.

A bigger challenge awaited the Lancers two days later, on Thursday, Dec. 13, when the team squared off against neighborhood rival Castle Park, which had faced off its season with a pair of league victories, including an 8-6 win over defending league champion Eastlake.

The Dec. 13 contest was closely fought, with the teams skating to a 1-1 standoff through the opening period. Hilltop was then tested when the Trojans took a 3-1 lead early in the second period.

The Lancers battled back to tie the game, 3-3, before Castle Park ended the frame with a 4-3 lead.

The Trojans extended their lead to 5-3 before Fune, who had been held scoreless to that point in the game, rattled off the next three goals, including two goals in the final two minutes to send the game into overtime and then potting the overtime winner.

Tesner called his team’s whirlwind victory “amazing.”

“Our team just never gave up in the third period and overtime,” the Hilltop coach said. “I told the team that if we lost to lose in a good way. It was crazy. It was awesome.”

Macias opened scoring in the game for the Lancers but Jared Fuentes tied it with a power play goal.

Martin Mari and Jovan Macias opened the second period with goals to stake the Trojans to a 3-1 lead. But Lambertson answered back with a pair of goals to tie the score 3-3.

Macias put Castle Park up 4-3 on a goal just 47 seconds prior to the second intermission.

The score remained close until midway through the third period when Fuentes scored an opportunistic goal to lift the Trojans to a 5-3 advantage. After exiting the penalty box, he grabbed hold of a loose puck in the center of the floor and skated in on a breakaway.

However, the two-goal lead did not prove to be enough to win in regulation.

Fune, one of the team’s top offensive players, had been helping hold down the team’s defensive end for much of the game. However, with time running down, he decided to take a more forward approach.

Fune made the score 5-4 when he finished off a pass from Lambertson with exactly two minutes left in the period.

With Castle Park on a power play for the final 59 seconds of the period in a bid to put the outcome to rest, Fune scored a shorthanded goal with just 35 seconds left on the clock to tie the game.

The overtime period featured a five-minute sudden-victory format with each team playing with three players.

The Trojan power play carried over into overtime but Hilltop managed to kill that. The Lancers then went on the offensive again and Fune capitalized on a defensive turnover in front of the Castle Park net to score the dramatic game-winner.

Lambertson had taken the initial shot on the rush down court before the puck bounced off the boards to in front of the net.

The OT goal completed a natural hat trick for Fune.

“I have to owe it to my teammates, I couldn’t have done it without their help,” Fune said somewhat shyly. “We all worked hard.”

Hilltop returned to the playing court for Friday’s non-league game against the San Ysidro Cougars. The Lancers won 9-0 as Fune, in a change of pace, picked up the goaltender victory (and shutout).

Hilltop led 4-0 after the first period and 6-0 through two periods.

With Fune between the pipes, Lambertson shouldered the scoring duties and produced six goals and two assists to lead the team in the scoring column.

Gabe Love and Kory Babiarz both scored their first goals of the season while Macias chipped in with one goal. Sanchez picked up one assist, as did Fune after dishing the puck to Lambertson on an end-to-end rush.

CIF-METRO CONFERENCE SCOREBOARD

Mesa League standings (through Dec. 20): Hilltop 4-0, Castle Park 3-1, Eastlake 2-2, Otay Ranch 1-3, Bonita Vista 0-4

South Bay League standings (through Dec. 21): Sweetwater 4-0, Mar Vista 3-1, Chula Vista 2-2, Southwest 1-3, San Ysidro 0-4

Overall records
Sweetwater district teams
(through Dec. 21):
Hilltop 6-0
Sweetwater 4-1
Castle Park 3-1
Mar Vista 3-1
Eastlake 3-2
Chula Vista 2-3
Otay Ranch 2-3
Southwest 1-5
Bonita Vista 0-4
San Ysidro 0-5

Sweetwater 6, Southwest 2
The Red Devils started slow and steadily built momentum to remain undefeated in South Bay League play. Sweetwater’s offense seemed to be off-track for much of the evening and part of that was due to a strong defensive effort by the Raiders.

Southwest’s Gabby Sanchez scored the first goal of the game. Jose Lopez tied the game for the Devils and teammate Cesar Salazar tacked on a goal, assisted by Lopez, to lift Sweetwater to a 2-1 lead.

But Katie George, assisted by Max Arias, who seems to improve every game, drew the teams into a 2-2 tie to the end the first period with an equalizing goal.

Sweetwater played the first four minutes of the second period with an empty net but was unable to score.

Salazar did scored on a breakaway before the period expired to push the Devils in front 3-2. They would not relinquish the lead the rest of the game, though Southwest kept at their heels.

The Raiders, in fact, opened the third period on a power play but Salazar scored a shorthanded goal to place his team in front 4-2. Lopez added two goals, including one on a power play, to make the final score 6-2.

Lopez finished the game with three goals and one assist while Salazar had a hat trick.

Chula Vista 6, San Ysidro 1
Adrian Ontiveros led the Spartans with four goals while Lucio Gutierrez added three goals and one assist.

Chula Vista led 5-1 after two periods. Chris Garcia scored the lone goal for San Ysidro.

The Dec. 21 games wrapped up the 2018 calendar portion of the 2018-19 season for Metro Conference teams.

“It’s another exciting roller hockey season in 2018-19,” Southwest coach Jerry Nestlerode summed up. “It’s great to see the kids having fun and playing hockey again.”

Eastlake rolls to Titan-ic victory

BRADEN MAYER MAKES HUGE IMPACT IN SEASON DEBUT FOR EASTLAKE TITANS ROLLER HOCKEY TEAM

Braden Mayer has picked up where his record-setting older brother Aaron left off with the Eastlake Titans roller hockey team. Both Mayer brothers are extremely talented whether on the ice or the roller surface.

The older Mayer is now a senior captain on the San Diego State University men’s ice hockey team that closed out the first semester of play in first place in the PAC-8 South Division standings. Aaron Mayer leads the Aztecs in team scoring and was a key cog in a weekend sweep of the University of Washington to close out the semester.

SDSU is ranked 17th out of 59 teams in the ACHA Division 2 West Region.

The younger Mayer is currently playing for the Jr. Ducks 16AAA ice hockey travel team. He caught a break in the schedule to rejoin the Titans for a crucial Mesa League rivalry match-up against the Otay Ranch Mustangs on Thursday (Dec. 13). Eastlake had gotten off to a 0-2 start in league play and, as the defending league champions, needed a kick-start in the right direction.

With eight points on six goals and two assists in Thursday’s runaway 15-3 win, Braden Mayer definitely gave his team a nudge up the league standings. He tacked on nine points (four goals, five assists) in a 16-1 win over Bonita Vista in a rain make-up game on Tuesday (Dec. 18) to help the Titans even their league record at 2-2 to conclude first-round play.

“It’s fun,” Mayer offered when asked what it felt like to be playing roller hockey again. “It’s always enjoyable to play with my friends from school. There’s less pressure than playing ice, so it’s a good time to be more creative.”

This is Mayer’s third year playing alongside Luke Killeen and the two have developed a nice chemistry.

Killeen actually finished as the high-point performer in Thursday’s game with 10 points on seven goals and three assists.

Both Mayer and Killeen look to continue to develop some chemistry with teammate Kevin Eagles, who has gained confidence and experience to become a team leader on offense as well.

Eagles fits right into the Eastlake scoring equation. He settled for seven points in Thursday’s win with two goals and five assists.

The game started off fairly even and it was apparent the Mustangs were well aware of Mayer’s prowess with the puck.

It took Mayer 9:43 into the first period to score his first goal. It came on a power play and was assisted by Eagles.

Eagles also set up Killeen for another power play goal and a 2-0 first period lead.

Sean Devaney served notice for Otay Ranch with a goal to face off the second period to cut the Titan lead to 2-1.

But Eastlake served notice it was back in the championship race by reeling off the game’s next 11 goals to take a 13-1 lead.

Devaney closed out the period with a goal and, following two Titan goals in the third period to lead 15-2, closed out the game with a goal to complete a hat trick.

Karla Navarrete, who has become a reliable defensive specialist, picked up a pair of assists for Eastlake.

“I want to be a good player on defense and a good co-captain,” said Navarrete, who serves as team co-captain alongside Killeen.

Eagles prefers to let his statistics do the talking. “I’m getting more playing time,” he said somewhat shyly. “Since I have more experience, I’m more involved now.”

Eastlake won its second consecutive Mesa League game after topping Bonita Vista in the Dec. 18 rain make-up game.

Killeen led the Titans with 10 points on four goals and six assists while Mayer racked up nine points on four goals and five assists. Eagles had four goals and one assist.

In the Titans’ case, it might be more important how the team finishes the season rather than how it started the season.

RED DEVILS TOP DEFENDING SOUTH BAY LEAGUE CHAMPION SPARTANS

Could there be a changing of the guard in among the South Bay League’s roller hockey teams this season? A tantalizing preview was offered on Friday (Dec. 14) as the Sweetwater Red Devils slipped past the defending league champion Chula Vista Spartans, 9-3, at the Castle Park High School outdoor rink.

The Spartans got off to a late start to the season and things can change rapidly as players come up to speed.

But Sweetwater, despite a short roster, definitely looks like it is has the talent to challenge for the league title this season.

“Our goal this season is to build the team and try to create more chemistry between the players, particularly the returners,” SuHi head coach Brandon Fox explained. “We want to be a tight group.”

Friday’s win over the Spartans (0-1 in league, 0-2 overall) improved the Devils’ league record to 3-0. Sweetwater is 3-1 overall following a non-league loss to Hilltop.

Returners Cesar Salazar, David Segura and Jose Lopez have definitely impacted the team’s offense to start the season.

The Devils took a key 3-0 first period lead in Friday’s game as Salazar scored twice and Segura scored once.

The Spartans put up a challenge to start the second period as Lucio Gutierrez scored a power play goal and Adrian Ontiveros added another goal, assisted by Gutierrez.

But two goals by Segura to complete a hat trick kept Sweetwater in front by a 5-2 score heading into the final period.

The Devils recaptured the momentum by scoring two goals to face off the third period to boost their lead to 7-2. Salazar, assisted by Lopez, scored the first of the pair to complete his hat trick while Irma Victoria, assisted by Segura, scored the second goal.

Gutierrez scored his second power play goal of the game to narrow the score to 7-3 but Sweetwater closed out the game with two more goals – both by Lopez.

Segura paced the Devils with three goals and two assists while Salazar scored three goals. Lopez had two goals and one assist as the third player on the team to collect multiple points in the game.

Gutierrez led Chula Vista with two goals and one assist while Ontiveros had one goal and one assist.

Sylvia Barba is another returning standout on the Spartans.

Sweetwater defeated Mar Vista, 8-4, on Wednesday prior to matching up with west side rival Chula Vista. Salazar racked up three goals and three assists while Segura collected three goals and one assist. Victoria and Isabel Iniguez also scored goals.

Isaac Suarez led the Mariners with a hat trick in the setback.

While roller hockey stresses scoring, what makes the Devils roll is by playing fundamentally sound defense, particularly by the team’s female players. Goaltender Caroline Negrete has performed well in league games.

Fox is hopeful the team’s roster will grow as the season develops. Depth will be important as the season heads to a close when competition among all the teams usually reaches a high point – and when injuries can suddenly halt teams in their path.

“We’re still getting the word out around the school,” Fox said.

The team’s snappy new uniforms should help in recruitment.

In another South Bay League game on Wednesday, Southwest overcame an early 1-0 deficit against San Ysidro to post a 5-2 victory.

Gonzalo Morales scored the opening goal of the game for the Cougars, who nursed their 1-0 lead into the second period before a goaltender injury forced the team to play with a field player in front of the net for a period of time.

Gabby Sanchez, assisted by Max Arias, scored into an open net to tie the game and ensuing goals by Sanchez and Katie George upped the Southwest lead to 3-1.

Nathan Oliver, assisted by Morales, scored San Ysidro’s second goal of the game to trim the Raiders lead to 3-2. But Southwest managed to pot two more goals – one each by Sanchez and Arias – to secure its first league win of the new season.

Sanchez finished the game with three goals and one assist while Arias and George each had one goal and one assist.

Mar Vista recorded its second South Bay League victory by doubling up Southwest, 4-4, on Friday (Dec. 14). The Mariners built a 3-0 lead and weathered two Raider goals in the second half of the game.

Isaac Suarez led Mar Vista with three goals and one assist while Diana Giss scored one goal.

George and Sanchez each scored one goal for Southwest while Arias picked up one assist.

SCRIPPS RANCH FALCONS TAKE OVER NO. 1 RANKING WITH 5-0 RECORD AFTER TOPPING RANCHO BERNARDO BRONCOS IN EARLY SEASON BATTLE OF UNBEATENS

Rain was not in the forecast for games last week and the CIF-Metro Conference got in all 17 scheduled games at both the Escondido Sports Center and the outdoor Castle Park High School rink.

It proved to be an eventful week.

On Monday in Escondido, the Scripps Ranch Falcons claimed undisputed rights to the No. 1 ranking position heading into the winter break after besting the defending Kiwanis Cup champion Rancho Bernardo Broncos, 7-4, in a match-up of early season unbeaten teams.

Scripps Ranch entered the Dec. 10 contest with a 3-0 record while Rancho Bernardo was 2-0. The Falcons never trailed in the game, leading by scores of 2-0, 4-1 and 6-2 at various junctures.

Ben Ivey paced all scorers in the match-up with four goals and one assist while teammate Cody Ayers scored two goals. Kyle Fraser scored the other goal for Scripps Ranch.

Ike Frankel had a hat trick for the Broncos while Kiril Yamplosky collected a pair of assists. Nik Thomas scored one goal for Rancho Bernardo while Alex Pang recorded one assist.

Taylor Cady made 13 saves on 17 shots to record the goaltender victory.

“It was a good win for us,” Scripps Ranch head coach Greg Friedman explained. “It came down to special teams. We scored four power play goals. The Ivey boys (Ben and Jack) and Cody Ayers dominated the power play. They (the Broncos) are still the team to beat. Taylor Cady played great in goal to seal the win.”

At 5-0 (following a 9-7 win over Westview on Wednesday, Dec. 12), Scripps Ranch possesses the top record in the 17-member conference. The Hilltop Lancers are the only other unbeaten team in the conference with a 4-0 record (2-0 in Mesa League play).

Rancho Bernardo improved to 3-1 in North County League play following Wednesday’s 13-3 win over Cathedral Catholic.

The Falcons have now beaten both of last season’s Kiwanis Cup championship finalists.

In other games Monday (Dec. 10) at the Escondido Sports Center:

Patrick Henry defeated Poway, 7-4, to even its early season record at 2-2. Poway held a 3-1 lead after the opening period before Patrick Henry put on a scoring burst with six of the game’s next seven goals, including five consecutive goals to close out the contest.

Matthew Voegel led Patrick Henry with three goals and one assist while teammate Matt Russell chalked up one goal and two assists. Tyler Daniel, Josh Mitchell and Jackson Raymer each scored one goal in the victory.

Poway received goals from four players: Ian McGrath, Tanner Castle, Michael Little and Carter Schrader. Schrader and Jonathon Puno each were credited with an assist.

The game was tied, 4-4, through two periods after Patrick Henry outscored Poway by a 3-1 margin in the second period. Patrick Henry scored the only three goals in the third period. Patrick Henry outshot Poway 18-17 in a very competitive game.

Westview topped Cathedral Catholic, 14-2, in the final game of Monday’s triple header as the Wolverines opened up a decisive 7-0 first period lead over the winless Dons.

Chris Ritchie led Westview in game scoring with five goals and three assists for eight points. Kyle Bucholtz picked up four points on one goal and three assists. Overall, seven players earned points for the Wolverines.

SCRIPPS RANCH 9, WESTVIEW 7
Dec. 12 at Escondido Sports Center — Junior Kyle Fraser collected five points on two goals and three assists to lead the undefeated Falcons while freshman Ben Ivey contributed one goal and two assists for three points. Freshman Jack Ivey scored three goals while junior Cody Ayers collected one goal and one assist. Joon Bae and Ryan Mikami each scored one goal for Scripps Ranch, which overcame a 3-2 deficit after the first period.

The Falcons led 6-5 through two periods and the two teams combined for five goals in the third period, including three by victorious Scripps Ranch.

RANCHO BERNARDO 13, CATHEDRAL CATHOLIC 3
Dec. 12 at Escondido Sports Center — Niklas Thomas and Alex Pang each scored hat tricks to lead the Broncos while goaltender K.J. Luna de la Fuente stopped 16 of 19 shots.

ESCONDIDO CHARTER 6, PATRICK HENRY 2
Dec. 12 at Escondido Sports Center — Bryce Mendoza had a hat trick for Escondido Charter and Noah Meni added two goals. Matt Russell had both goals for Patrick Henry.

TROJANS, MUSTANGS POST MESA LEAGUE WINS TO ADD INTRIGUE TO 2018-19 SEASON

In games Tuesday (Dec. 11) at the Castle Park High School rink, the Castle Park Trojans handed the defending Mesa League champion Eastlake Titans their second consecutive loss to face off 2018-19 league play. The Trojans prevailed, 8-6, over the Titans after erasing an early 3-1 deficit.

CPHS assistant coach Chris Kryjewski called the victory “a beautiful win.”

“We had not won a game against them in three years,” Kryjewski said. “Everybody contributed. The kids played a hell of a game.”

Jared Fuentes opened scoring to give Castle Park a 1-0 lead. However, Eastlake came out of the opening period with a 2-1 lead on a pair of goals by Kevin Eagles, including one on a power play. Luke Killeen assisted on the first Titan goal and Karla Navarrete drew the assist on the go-ahead goal.

Killeen increased the Eastlake lead to 3-1 by notching the first goal of the second period. However, the Trojans eventually found the mark again and a pair of goals by Jovan Macias tied the game at 3-3.

But the Titans had an answer for that as Eagles scored his second goal of the contest to put his team back on top by a score of 4-3. In fact, Eastlake ended the second period with a 5-3 lead after Killeen notched his hat trick goal, assisted by Eagles.

Castle Park turned the third period complete around by scoring three unanswered goals to go in front 6-5. Macias scored the opening goal of the period to complete his hat trick, while teammate Martin Mari scored the next two goals.

Killeen scored his fourth goal of the game, assisted by Eagles, with 4:40 to play to knot the score at 6-6. But the Trojans had a response to that as Mari netted the final two goals of the game. Mari completed his hat trick on the night to push the Trojans out in front, 7-6, with 1:28 remaining in the game, assisted by Macias. Mari then made the final 8-6 after taking control of the puck deep in his own defensive end and scoring coast-to-coast with one minute left in regulation play.

Mari finished the game with four goals while Macias collected three goals and one assist.

Killeen and Eagles both led Eastlake in the loss with three goals and two assists.

Otay Ranch defeated Bonita Vista, 13-4, to snatch its first Mesa League win of the new season. Sean Devaney led the victorious Mustangs with seven goals and four assists, having a hand in all but two of his team’s goals in the game.

Devaney opened scoring before the Barons took a 2-1 lead on goals by Nick Stark and Anna Custodio. However, Devaney promptly ripped off three consecutive goals to put Otay Ranch back on top 4-2 in the game.

Devaney assisted on teammate Nathan Castro’s goal to increase the Mustangs’ lead to 5-2 and ended the period with his fifth goal of the game to put Otay Ranch ahead, 6-2, through two periods.

Devaney opened the third period with a shorthanded goal to up the Mustang lead to 7-2 before Stark scored his second goal of the game for Bonita Vista. But 7-3 was the closest the Barons would get as Otay Ranch reeled off five consecutive goals to jump ahead 12-3 on the scoreboard.

Custodio, assisted by Stark, made the score 12-4 before Devaney rounded out scoring with his seventh goal of the game.

During the Mustangs’ five consecutive run of goals, five different Otay Ranch players scored goals, among them Julian Suarez, Steven Filippi and Cameron Galloway.

Stark led the Barons with two goals and one assist; Custodio had two goals. Bonita Vista dropped to 0-2 in Mesa League play.

Otay Ranch improved to 1-0 in league play, 2-0 overall. Devaney hiked his impressive season opening scoring tally to 10 goals and 12 assists (22 points) in two games.

Hilltop closed out Tuesday’s tripleheader at the Castle Park rink with a 12-3 non-league win over the Sweetwater Red Devils. The game was close at the start, with the Lancers notching the only two goals of the first period and Sweetwater then narrowing the score to 2-1 at the start of the second period.

But Hilltop scored six unanswered goals to assume an imposing 8-1 lead.

Isaiah Macias keyed the Lancers with four goals while Kristin Lambertson notched four points on two goals two assists. Trevor Fune scored three goals while Justin Sanchez contributed two goals and one assist. Niko Sandoval rounded out the Hilltop scoring barrage with one goal.

Cesar Salazar paced Sweetwater with three goals.

The Lancers improved to 2-0 on the season. The Red Devils saw their record drop to 1-1.

Mesa League records (through Dec. 11): Castle Park 2-0, Hilltop 1-0, Otay Ranch 1-0, Eastlake 0-2, Bonita Vista 0-2

CIF-METRO CONFERENCE SCOREBOARD

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 12 @ CPHS
South Bay League
Sweetwater 8, Mar Vista 4
Southwest 5, San Ysidro 2

Non-league
Poway 15, Chula Vista 0

THURSDAY, Dec. 13 @ CPHS
Mesa League
Hilltop 6, Castle Park 5 (OT)
Eastlake 15, Otay Ranch 3

FRIDAY, Dec. 14 @ CPHS
South Bay League
Sweetwater 9, Chula Vista 3
Mar Vista 4, Southwest 2

Non-league
Hilltop 9, San Ysidro 0

RAIN-OUT MAKE-UP GAME SCHEDULE
Games from Thursday, Nov. 29, will be made up on Tues., Dec. 18:
Eastlake 16, Bonita Vista 1
Hilltop 12, Otay Ranch 7

Games from Wednesday, Dec. 5, will be made up on Wed., Dec. 19:
Chula Vista vs. Southwest, 5 p.m.
Mar Vista vs. San Ysidro, 6 p.m.
Sweetwater vs. Scripps Ranch, 7 p.m.

Games from Thursday, Dec. 6, will be made up on Thursday, Dec. 20:
Bonita Vista vs. Hilltop, 5 p.m.
Castle Park vs. Otay Ranch, 6 p.m.

Games from Friday, Nov. 30, will be made up Friday, Dec. 21:
Castle Park vs. Mar Vista, 5 p.m.
Southwest vs. Sweetwater, 6 p.m.
San Ysidro vs. Chula Vista, 7 p.m.

POWAY TITANS FIELDING COMPETITIVE TEAM IN 2018-19

It will be interesting to see just where the Poway Titans fit into the 2019 Kiwanis Cup playoff seeding.

The Titans are fielding a relatively short roster this season but do have some talent spread throughout the lineup.

Poway engaged the defending South Bay League champion Chula Vista Spartans in a non-league game Wednesday (Dec. 12) at Castle Park High School’s outdoor rink and skated away with a 15-0 non-league victory.

The Spartans, who in their defense were making their season debut, were limited to just a few offensive rushes.

The Titans, meanwhile, set the tone in the contest with a 7-0 first period lead. The North County League team led 12-0 entering the final period.

Poway faced off its season with an 11-2 loss to Scripps Ranch but then topped league rival Cathedral Catholic, 8-4, to pick up its first victory of the season. The Titans subsequently lost, 5-3, to Westview on Dec. 3 and Rancho Bernardo, x-x, on Dec. 5.

Patrick Henry handed Poway a 7-4 loss on Monday (Dec. 10). However, the teams were tied heading into the final period.

The Titans improved to 2-4 with Wednesday’s win over the Spartans.

Wednesday’s game was heavy on ironman performances. Poway fielded six players while Chula Vista suited up seven players.

All five Titan field players earned points in the win.

Michael Little left his mark on Wednesday’s game with 11 points on seven goals and four assists. He and teammate Ian McGrath appear to have some genuine chemistry on the court as the Poway duo combined for 10 of the team’s 15 goals.

McGrath, who towers over the playing surface at 6-5, was quite productive in his own right with seven points on three goals and four assists.

Jonathan Puno collected five points on two goals and three assists while Tanner Castle contributed one goal and two assists. Carter Schrader scored two goals in the game.

Little collected four goals and one assist in the win over Cathedral Catholic while McGrath contributed two goals and two assists.

“We feel we have a competitive team this year,” Poway coach Greg Little said. “We feel we will be competitive in our league. We hope to go far in the playoffs.”

So, the question can be asked: are the Titans better than all of this season’s 10 Sweetwater district teams?

It’s hard to make a firm estimate based on just one game; a clearer answer will be obtained when Poway comes south to play current Mesa League leader Hilltop on Jan. 16.

In the meantime, the Titans will concentrate on climbing up the North County League standings.

Ice chips:

Gulls aren’t playing like last place club, seek Christmas stocking stuffer as reward

The San Diego Gulls demonstrated that really not too much separates top from the bottom in the American Hockey League’s Pacific Division standings after the Gull, occupying last place in the seven-team division, topped the division-leading San Jose Barracuda in a pair of home games at the rechristened Pechanga Arena/San Diego.

The Gulls, the top developmental affiliate of the NHL Anaheim Ducks, recorded a 4-3 shootout victory against the Barracuda, the top developmental affiliate of the NHL San Jose Sharks, on Saturday, Dec. 15.

The teams rematched Wednesday, with the Gulls delivering a crushing 6-1 defeat to the Bay Area visitors.

As a point of reference, the Barracuda entered Saturday’s game leading the entire 31-team AHL with a .786 winning percentage based on an outstanding 15-3-1-2 record. Meanwhile, the Gulls sat in last place in the division with an 8-11-1-2 record and .432 winning percentage.

The Gulls trailed the Cuda by 14 standings points as the season neared the one-third mark.

In fact, the teams appeared headed in opposite directions. San Jose entered the Dec. 15 game, played in front of a Winter Wonderland gathering of 10,911 fans, riding a 6-0-1-1 streak in its last eight games while the Gulls were 2-7-0-1 in their last 10 games, including a 0-4-0-1 mark in their last five games.

Moreover, the Cuda owned the top road record in the league with a .726 winning percentage (7-2-1-1).

The opening moments of Saturday’s contest indeed displayed the apparent disparity between the teams as the visitors took a 2-0 lead just past the midpoint of the first period. But the Barracuda was not necessarily the best team on the ice at the finish of the game.

The hosts erased the early 2-0 deficit on a pair of unanswered goals by Ducks top prospect Max Jones and later made up a one-goal deficit in the third period with a key power play goal to take the high-flying Cuda into overtime before prevailing in a shootout.

It marked the second night in a row that the Gulls had erased a two-goal deficit to earn a point in the standings after rallying to extend Friday’s game in Bakersfield to the shootout round, though falling 4-3 to the host Condors.

Head coach Dallas Eakins’ team is hard-pressed to stay within striking distance of a playoff berth heading into the Christmas break, and the Gulls need to grab points wherever and whenever they can.With five points in its last three games, San Diego appears ready to show its divisional opponents not to count them out quite yet.

“I was just super proud of the group,” Eakins said after Saturday’s win. “I thought our fight in the game was an excellent one. We were due for a tipping point, for it to go the other way. I loved our mindset. We didn’t have a player here tonight that was asleep before 4 a.m. after getting back from Bakersfield. With San Jose just sitting here waiting for us, I thought it was a great testament of the work ethic, the heart and the mindset of this group.”

He was equally positive in remarks following Wednesday’s statement victory.

“It was an all-around unbelievable effort, right from our goaltender through our defense to our forwards,” the San Diego bench boss underscored. “Everybody was involved, which is an excellent, excellent sign. A lot of nights it is hard to get everyone involved. You might have 12 or 15 guys going but there are always a couple guys having an off night. Tonight it was everybody involved, everybody making an impact. It’s very encouraging.”

Four Gulls recorded multiple-point games on Wednesday as the team tied a season high with six goals. Joseph Blandisi scored two goals, Matt Berry collected three points on one goal and two assists, Chase De Leo had a goal and assist and Sam Steel dished out a pair of assists.

The hosts also received goals from USA Olympian Troy Terry and Sam Carrick and assists from Giovanni Fiore, Luke Schenn, Jaycob Megna and Adam Cracknell.

The three-point effort set a new single-game career high for Berry, who opened the season on the roster of the ECHL Utah Grizzlies.

Carrick’s goal, which came shorthanded at the 6:52 mark of the second period, launched the Gulls to an early 2-0 lead. It was the third shorthanded goal of the season and his team-leading 12^th goal.

Terry extended his current point streak to four games with his team-leading 23^rd point while Steel recorded his first career multiple-point game.

Kevin Boyle turned aside 23 of 24 shots to pick up his seventh victory this season as the Gulls piled up a 39-24 advantage in shots.

Boyle has stopped 51 of 55 shots in his last two games to post a 1.92 goals-against average and .927 save percentage.

Blandisi, originally a sixth round pick (162^nd overall) by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, topped off Wednesday’s game with an electrifying spin-around goal that completely took San Jose goaltender Antoine Bibeau by surprised.

It shocked as much as it entertained the 6,225 in attendance.

“We’re playing with confidence right now,” said Blandisi, who extended his current point streak to three games and has tallied 10 points in his last nine games. “That’s two wins in a row against one of the best teams in the league.

“Coming into the year, we thought we were one of the best teams in the league and then we fell off a little bit. You can see it when we play our game and we play a full 60 minutes, we are a dangerous team to play against. Hopefully we can get some momentum here and the snowball keeps rolling.”

The wins definitely have done much for the Gulls’ confidence, Blandisi said.

“I think top to bottom it was a full team effort and it was for a full 60 minutes,” he noted. “Whenever you do that in this league, you’re going to be tough to play against and tough to beat. We showed dominance tonight throughout the whole game. That is really good for this team.”

But it took some adversity to push the team in the right direction, however.

Alexander True and Atti Suomela staked San Jose to a 2-0 lead in the opener of its three-game Southern California road trip on Saturday.

San Jose took a 1-0 lead just 2:13 into the game as True slid in to tip in a feed from Jayden Halbgewachs. The secondary assist went to Vincent Praplan.

The Cuda doubled its lead at 11:35 when Suomela notched his first AHL goal after being reassigned by the Sharks earlier in the week. Kyle Wood and veteran captain John McCarthy picked up assists.

Jones, a first-round draft pick (24th overall) by the Ducks in 2014, put the puck beyond the reach of Bibeau following a scramble in front of the net at 13:28. Carrick and Megna drew assists as San Jose ended the opening period with a 2-1 lead and 15-9 shot advantage.

Jones picked up his second goal of the game and seventh of the season at 3:57 of the second period, assisted by Ducks 2018 top draft pick Isac Lundestrom (23rd overall selection).

Both San Jose’s Bibeau and San Diego’s Boyle played to a standoff as the teams exchanged power play opportunities for the remainder of the middle period. The visitors held a 25-20 shot advantage through two periods.

The Gulls, despite having every right to feel weary after making up a two-goal deficit to force overtime and a shootout in Bakersfield the night before, played hard despite owning the lowest number of points in the division standings.

The Barracuda, however, got the next goal as Dylan Gambrell’s shot from the right point beat Boyle for a 3-2 San Jose lead with `3:17 left in the third period. Kyle Wood made the cross-ice pass to Gambrell just inside the blue line. Keaton Middleton was awarded the secondary assist.

The Gulls scored a power play goal at 10:03 as Carrick caught the inside of the far post with just three seconds left in the tripping infraction to Jeffrey Truchon-Viel. Terry and Andy Welinski received assists on the game-tying goal.

It was Carrick’s team leading 11th goal of the season; he picked up his 200th career AHL point with the assist on Jones’ first goal.

After outscoring the division leaders 3-1 over the balance of two periods, the Gulls went back on the power play when Wood was called for tripping at 10:36. However, neither team scored during the duration of regulation play.

The three-on-three five-minute sudden-victory overtime period was wide open though only three shots were officially recorded – two by the visitors and one by the hosts. Either team could have easily snatched the win right there, especially the Barracuda on a pair of good scoring chances early in the overtime period.

But Boyle stood his ground to extend the game into a shootout, which went five rounds.

Suomela opened the shootout with a goal for San Jose and Jones countered for San Diego to knot the teams at 1-1. The next two rounds were scoreless as Boyle stopped Cuda scoring leader Francis Perron and Wood while Bibeau stonewalled Terry and Carrick, two of the Gulls’ three top scorers this season.

Grambell scored to put San Jose up 2-1 in the fourth round but Kalle Kossila scored a clutch goal to even the shootout at two goals apiece to necessitate another round.

True failed to beat Boyle, leaving Cracknell, the newest member of the San Diego team after being obtained in a trade between the Ducks and Toronto Maple Leafs on Dec. 10 for Steven Oleksy, with a chance to impress the Gulls coaching staff and any Ducks scouts in the building by potting the game-winning goal.

Cracknell did just that by forcing Bibeau to finally commit before flipping a shot past the prone netminder for the game-winner. Cracknell pumped his fist a couple times en route  to the San Diego bench, which quickly poured onto the ice to congratulate their newest team member.

Gulls fans had a chance to rejoice after watching their team drop four of its last five home games.

Carrick said it was important for the team to get back on the right track.

“We have gone through a fair amount of adversity,” the San Diego goal leader said. “We got down to an early two-goal deficit and guys just battled back. It was a game we needed as a group. We could see it coming. We could feel that we were starting to play better and things were going to start happening for us soon.”

Cracknell was playing in his 500th AHL contest but first at Pechanga Arena/San Diego.

“(He) is exactly what we needed, a veteran presence,” Carrick said. “He’s a very talkative guy which is great for our room. You always need more guys like that. For him to come in and bury that shootout winner, I was so happy for him. We needed it. It wasn’t only him. For Kalle Kossila to tie it up, Max Jones had a great game, too, and obviously Kevin Boyle stood on his head for us.”

Jones earned first star of the game honors with two regulation goals and another in the shootout while Carrick was tabbed the game’s second star with a goal and assist. Wood represented San Jose as the game’s third star with two assists.

Jones recorded his first multi-point game. Terry’s assist kept him in the team scoring lead with 22 points (eight goals, 14 assists).

Boyle made 28 saves in regulation and overtime, and stopped three shootout attempts en route to his sixth win of the season.

Eakins lauded the effort by Jones in the game in particular. “He was huge,” the Gulls coach said. “He got two goals. He drew three penalties. On one of the penalties, we score on the power play. It was just a great effort from a player that is going to have a very great career.”

The shootout loss ended San Jose’s five-game winning streak, though it did extend the Cuda’s current point streak to nine games (6-0-1-2). With the single standings point earned in Saturday’s game, San Jose (15-3-1-3) was able to move ahead of the Tucson Roadrunners (15-7-2-1) for sole possession of first place in the division standings.

San Jose picked up two more standings points in Sunday’s 5-2 win in Ontario to lead the Gulls by 15 standings points entering Wednesday’s rematch.

The Cuda (16-4-1-3) leads the division standings with 36 points and a .750 winning percentage, followed by Tucson (15-8-2-1) with 33 points and a .635 winning percentage, the Colorado Eagles (14-8-3-1) with 32 points and a .615 winning percentage, Bakersfield (14-10-0-0) with 28 points and a .583 winning percentage.

If the Calder Cup playoffs would start today, those four teams would qualify.

The Stockton Heat, which dropped a 3-2 overtime decision to visiting Bakersfield on Wednesday, currently occupies fifth place in the division standings with a 12-13-2-0 record and 26 points (.481 winning percentage).

The Gulls (10-11-1-2) are tied with Ontario (9-10-3-2) for sixth place with 23 points and identical .479 winning percentages.

The Gulls will engage the Reign in a two-game weekend series to break that deadlock. San Diego hosts Ontario on Friday, Dec. 21, at 7 p.m. The teams rematch at Citizens Business Bank Arena on Saturday, Dec. 22, at 3 p.m.

The Gulls have now scored 80 goals this season, the club’s highest total through 24 games to start a season.

Eakins has to hope the team’s modest three-game points streak continues to grow.

“I think it goes back to the beginning of the year,” the Gulls coach said. “We always talked about how much every game matters. Obviously, we aren’t where we want to be right now in the standings. I think, especially coming into this Christmas break, we want to be on a roll. We want to be feeling good. There are still lots of hockey games left, so we’re not panicking by any means, but now is the time to go on a run, string a bunch of wins together, and climb back up the standings.”

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