Keith Quigley has coached the Bonita Vista High School roller hockey team since its inception in 1998. Over that span, he has seen players graduate to play both collegiate ice and roller hockey as well as become coaches themselves.
Kelly Nash, a 2007 BVHS graduate, went on to win two NCAA Division I women’s ice hockey championships (2009 and 20911) with the University of Wisconsin. She made three Frozen Four appearances during her career, compiling 69 points (22 goals, 47 assists) in 153 games with the Badgers.
Nash scored the overtime goal against Minnesota to hand Wisconsin the WCHA conference title in 2011 en route to earning honors as the team’s most dedicated player.
After graduating from Wisconsin in 2011, she played for the Vienna (Austria) Sabres of the European Women’s Hockey League and also coached with the Middlesex (Mass.) Islanders.
She earned her first coaching position with the University of Vermont in 2013. In her first season, the Catamount set a program record with 18 wins and won its first Hockey East playoff game.
This past July, Nash was hired as an assistant coach with Princeton University’s women’s ice hockey team.
James Arakaki, the 2004-5 CIF/Metro Conference Player of the Year, went on to play four seasons with the University of Michigan Wolverines in the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association, totaling 55 goals and 106 points in 74 regular season games.
He racked up 109 points during the 2003-4 roller hockey season for the Barons.
Joey Galeno, who scored the overtime goal to nudge the Barons past the Scripps Ranch Falcons in the 2002 Kiwanis Cup championship game, played five years in the NCRHA with Cal Poly Pomona. He scored 68 goals and 112 points in 78 games with the Broncos (2003-08).
Quigley can now add 2007 BVHS grad Melissa Ho to the growing list of celebrated BVHS hockey alumni.
Ho, who was born in British Colombia but grew up in Southern California, was a member of Team Canada’s bronze medalist team that competed at the recent Federation of International Roller Sports (FIRS) World Roller Games played in Nanjing, China.
Ho played roller hockey three years for the Barons. She played on the same teams with Nash. The pair earned notoriety with an all-girl assist-goal combination in a January 2007 Mesa League game.
At the time they played, few girls played on teams otherwise dominated by boys. Now high school roller hockey is officially classified as a coed sport.
“Melissa was very new to the game as a high school player,” Quigley recalled. “I always enjoyed coaching Melissa because she was always a good listener and simply did whatever you asked of her when it came to coaching her at practices and games.
“She was a disciplined player. I’m thrilled to see that she’s still playing roller hockey and at a high level.”
Quigley said he was very excited to learn that Ho represented Team Canada in such a prestigious international tournament.
Quigley described her as “very quiet and somewhat timid” as a high school player; Ho, who played two seasons with CSU Fullerton in the WCRHL (2015-17) with three goals and 11 points in 43 games, retains a very pleasant demeanor and respectful attitude as an adult.
“I was really excited for this chance to play a sport which I’ve loved,” she said. “Coming back with a bronze medal from the World Roller Games, the vets, rookies, and coaching staff were all really great in making this tournament unforgettable.”
Team Canada finished 5-1 in its six games in China. The Canadians faced off the tournament with a 16-0 win over Korea, defeated Australia by a score of 7-2 and topped Italy, 3-1, to finished undefeated in pool play.
Team Canada skated past New Zealand, 3-1, in its first playoff game before dropping a 3-2 decision to the United States in the semifinals.
The United States defeated Spain, 1-0, in the gold medal game while Canada defeated the Czech Republic, 3-1, in the bronze medal game.
Ho, a defender, recorded one goal and one assist in the six games.
The World Roller Games event featured play in four divisions: men’s junior, women’s junior, men’s senior and women’s senior divisions.
The junior tournaments took place Aug. 28 to Sept. 3 while the senior tournaments took place Sept. 2-9.
The exotic location was a draw for players, coaches and fans alike.
The U.S. junior men placed seventh and the U.S. senior men placed ninth in their respective divisions.
France defeated Spain to win the junior men’s world championship while France defeated Italy to capture the senior’s men’s title. Chinese Taipei defeated Italy to win the junior women’s championship.
Overall, teams from 23 nations participated in the event, representing all six populated continents.
Go Aztecs
Former Eastlake High roller hockey scoring star Aaron Mayer is a returning member of San Diego State University’s men’s club ice hockey team. A junior left wing, Mayer holds the single-season soring record of 177 points set during the 2014-5 CIF/Metro Conference season.
In his first two seasons with the team, Mayer had collected 44 goals and 82 points in 51 games.
He tallied 22 goals and 36 points during his freshman season with the Aztecs in 2015-6 and tacked on 22 goals and 46 points last season as a sophomore.
SDSU faced off its 2017-18 season Thursday (Sept. 28) with a 2-1 non-conference victory against Dallas Baptist University at the newly christened Poway Ice arena.
The teams met again on Friday (Sept. 29) in a second game at Poway Ice,with SDSU claiming a 9-3 win. Mayer proved high point man for the Aztecs with two goals and two assists.
Dallas Baptist University entered the two games with a 6-0 record. SDSU, which improved to 2-0, next faces Loyola Marymount University in a Sept. 30 game at Poway Ice.
Face-off
The Gulls will face off their third American Hockey League season in San Diego with an exhibition game Saturday (Sept. 30) at the Valley View Casino Center (7 p.m. face-off). The Gulls will meet the Tucson Roardrunners in the second preseason game for both teams. A Fan Fest welcoming party will take place in the arena parking lot from 5 to 7 p.m.
The Gulls, the AHL affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League, dropped a 4-3 shootout decision to the host Ontario Reign, the AHL affiliate of the NHL Los Angeles Kings, on Thursday (Sept. 28).
Tyler Soy, Kyle Thomas and Mitch Hults each scored goals in regulation play for the Gulls. Angus Redmond played the first 40 minutes in the net for San Diego, making 18 saves on 20 shots; Kevin Carr relieved Redmond for the third period and shootout, making 24 stops on 25 shots.
Julius Nattinen scored for the Gulls in the shootout while Philippe Malliet and Spencer Watson scored shootout goals for the Reign, which went on to top Tucson by a score of 5-3 in a preseason game on Friday (Sept. 29).
San Diego and Ontario will close out the preseason with an exhibition game Monday, Oct. 2, at the Honda Center in Anaheim. Admission and parking are free with digital ticketing.
The Gulls announced the Oct. 2 preseason game against Ontario (7 p.m.) will be available for live streaming via the FOX Sports GO app and FOXSportsGO.com, as well as FoxSportsSanDiego.com and FoxSportsWest.com.
For more information, visit the website at www.sandiegogulls.com.
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