The Metro Conference faced off its 26th continuous season of co-ed roller hockey this past week at the Castle Park High School rink.
Nine Sweetwater district schools are fielding teams for the 2025-26 season — Eastlake, Bonita Vista and Otay Ranch in the Metro-Mesa League; Mar Vista, Southwest and Hilltop in the Metro-South Bay League and Sweetwater, Castle Park and San Ysidro in the Metro-Pacific League.
Each team will play three games against each league opponent and one game each against teams from other leagues. There are three extra non-league games for a total of 15 regular season games.
A conference playoff tournament follows regular season play.
Defending Metro-Mesa League champion Eastlake, braced by returning conference scoring leader Chris Rollbusch Jr., has rolled to a 3-0 start while Otay Ranch, braced by newcomer Gavin Corrieau, won both of its on-court games by large scoring margins to cap the opening week of play.
Southwest, Hilltop, Mar Vista and Bonita Vista also came up with victories to face off the new season.
“We’re excited to be playing another season,” Eastlake coach Chris Rollbusch Sr. said following Thursday’s 15-0 on-league win over San Ysidro. “We have seven seniors on this year’s team, some of whom are playing their first season.”
Seven Titans picked up scoring points in Thursday’s game, paced by freshman phenom Jacob Fox with four goals, senior Ryan Resano with three goals and one assist, freshman Tyron Javier with one goal and three assists, Rollbusch and senior Nicholas Battillo each with two goals and one assist, two goals by senior Kaden Thomasian and two assists by sophomore Desi Garcia.
Fox is a second-generation Metro roller hockey player following in the footsteps of this father who played for Sweetwater High School. Like many players on the Titans roster, the younger Fox grew up playing ice hockey at the Kroc Center and brings an extensive skill set to the rink.
Team leaders through three games include Rollbusch with 13 points (10 goals, three assists), Battillo and Fox each with seven points (six goals, one assist), senior Sam Chavez with seven points (two goals, five assists), Resano with five points (three goals, two assists), junior Sid Jonason with five points (two goals, three assists) and Javier with four points (one goal, three assists).
Senior Solana Kitamura had yet to allow a goal in two game appearances while senior Nicole Alvarez had posted a 1.50 GAA in two games.
Rollbusch topped all conference scorers last season with 114 points (77 goals, 37 assists) during regular season play.
Eastlake faced off the season with an 8-1 win over Hilltop on Monday and blanked Mar Vista, 14-0, on Wednesday.
Hilltop faced off against Bonita Vista on Thursday as two of the longest-running teams in the county renewed their rivalry that predates conference play. The Lancers, founded in 1997, rolled to an early 3-0 lead but the Barons, founded in 1998, rebounded to trim the score to 3-2. Each team tacked on a goal thereafter with Hilltop moving in front 4-2 on Tre Nichols’ fourth goal of the game and Bonita Vista making it close on Aaron Odvina’s hat trick goal.
Tre Nichols in the brother of 2025 Hilltop grad Aariel Nichols, one of the top female roller hockey players all-time in conference history.
“We’re grateful to have Aariel Nichols’ brother on the team this year,” Lancer coach Paul Tesner said. “We currently have three seniors out with injuries. We’re still learning with a young group.”
Bonita Vista defeated Eastlake to win last season’s conference tournament championship.
Otay Ranch and Southwest closed out Thursday’s slate of four games with Otay Ranch coming out on top by a 9-1 score. Gavin Corriveau made a statement with six goals and one assist as another newcomer to watch this season. Santiago Pearson scored two goals and one assist for the Mustangs while Esai Valera notched the Raiders’ lone goal in the game.
Mar Vista faced off Thursday’s schedule with a 10-0 win over Sweetwater behind six goals from Fernando Corona, single goals each by Raeden Owen, Violet Kurr and Riley Owen and an assist from Marston Marfori.
Four cross-league games are scheduled each day on Dec. 15, Dec. 17 and Dec. 18 to close out the conference schedule prior to the holiday break. Play resumes Jan. 5. League play faces off Jan. 7-8.
Face-offs
Eastlake rolled to a 24-0 start in 2018 before finishing 24-2 with a pair of losses in the Kiwanis Cup playoffs. The Titans finished 21-5 in 2019. Scripps Ranch finished 22-0 in 2004 to post the conference’s first undefeated season. Rancho Bernardo finished 20-0 in 2015. Scripps Ranch posted its second undefeated season at 18-0 in 2018.
METRO CONFERENCE ROLLER HOCKEY
2025-26 SEASON FACE-OFF
Monday, Dec. 8
Bonita Vista 1, Castle Park 0
Southwest 5, Sweetwater 1
Eastlake 8, Hilltop 1
Otay Ranch 15, San Ysidro 0
Wednesday, Dec. 10
Otay Ranch 1, Castle Park 0
Eastlake 14, Mar Vista 1
Southwest vs. San Ysidro (postponed)
Bonita Vista 11, Sweetwater 2
Thursday, Dec. 11
Mar Vista 10, Sweetwater 0
Eastlake 15, San Ysidro 0
Hilltop 4, Bonita Vista 3
Otay Ranch 9, Southwest 1
Monday, Dec. 15
Mar Vista-Otay Ranch, 5 p.m.
San Ysidro-Bonita Vista, 5:45 p.m.
Sweetwater-Hiltop, 6:30 p.m.
Castle Park-Southwest, 7:15 p.m.
Wednesday, Dec. 17
Eastlake-Sweetwater, 5 p.m.
Bonita Vista-Southwest, 5:45 p.m.
San Ysidro-Mar Vista, 6:30 p.m.
Castle Park-Hilltop, 7:15 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 18
Otay Ranch-Sweetwater, 5 p.m.
Southwest-Eastlake. 5:45 p.m.
Hilltop-San Ysidro, 6:30 p.m.
Mar Vista-Castle Park, 7:15 p.m.
Top Conference Records
(Through Dec. 11)
Eastlake Titans 3-0
Otay Ranch Mustangs 3-0
Bonita Vista Barons 2-1
Hilltop Lancers 1-1
Mar Vista Mariners 1-1
Southwest Raiders 1-1
San Ysidro Cougars 0-2
Castle Park Trojans 0-2
Sweetwater Red Devils 0-3
Photos by Phillip Brents
