The rankings within the CIF-Metro Conference’s roller hockey circuit are starting to take shape at midseason. The Rancho Bernardo Broncos are on top, followed by the Scripps Ranch Falcons, Westview Wolverines and Eastlake Titans.
Next in order appear to be the Cathedral Catholic Dons, Patrick Henry Patriots and Escondido Charter White Tigers.
Those seven teams appear to be highly competitive with one another.
Rancho Bernardo edged Scripps Ranch, 4-3, in a highlight game on Monday between North County League unbeatens while Scripps Ranch slipped past Westview earlier this season in overtime while Eastlake edged Cathedral Catholic, 3-2, in a recent non-league matchup.
Patrick Henry edged Cathedral Catholic in overtime while Cathedral Catholic topped Escondido Charter in an overtime shootout.
It’s made for some very interesting games so far this season, and the season is far from over. It appears the 2017-18 campaign might be one of the most parity-racked in years.
Southern exposure
Eastlake slipped past traditional North County power Cathedral Catholic, 3-2, in a non-league played Jan. 17 at the Castle Park High School rink. The game was evenly matched, with the Titans scoring the lone goal in the third period to snap a 2-2 tie.
Sweetwater district teams are each playing one game against teams from the conference’s highly competitive North County League this season. Eastlake drew Cathedral Catholic in a matchup to determine the upper half of the conference rankings.
Eastlake is one of just two undefeated teams in the conference this season following Monday’s match between the previously undefeated Scripps Ranch Falcons and the Rancho Bernardo Broncos at the Escondido Sports Center.
Rancho Bernardo won an exceedingly close game, 4-3, to improve to 7-0. Scripps Ranch fell to 8-1.
Eastlake improved to 15-0 following Monday’s 11-0 non-league win over Chula Vista and Tuesday’s 5-3 Mesa League victory against Castle Park.
The Titans’ success has taken first-year head coach Rich Haislip a bit by surprise.
“Coming in people had told me the team was good but it’s exceeded my expectations,” Haislip said. “The team is very talented. Everyone keeps growing through the season.”
Eastlake’s win over Cathedral Catholic was made even more impressive in that the Titans were playing without sophomore Braden Mayer, the team’s leading scorer.
The teams traded goals in the first two periods. Luke Killeen, with an assist from Will Hamilton, put the Titans up 1-0. Jake Belland, son of former San Diego Gulls pro Brad Belland, tied the score, 1-1, for the Dons.
Hamilton, assisted by Killeen, gave Eastlake a 2-1 lead before Belland notched his second goal of the game to knot the score once again.
Jake Powell netted the game-winner, assisted by Killeen, with 5:11 to play in the game.
“They’re very competitive – it was our most competitive game so far,” Haislip said. “I’m proud of the team. They pulled it together.”
Killeen collected four goals and one assist in Monday’s win while Hamilton added two goals and two assists. Powell recorded two goals and one assist while Mayer had one goal and one assist.
The Titans trailed the Trojans, 2-1, after the first period in Tuesday’s game but rallied with four of the game’s final five goals to remain undefeated on the season.
Hamilton spearheaded the comeback win with four goals. Freshman Kevin Eagles was credited with the game-winning goal.
In games played Tuesday (Jan. 23) at the CPHS rink, Otay Ranch scored three goals in the third period to outlast Bonita Vista, 4-3, in a key Mesa League game while Hilltop defeated Mar Vista, 6-1, in a non-league game.
Paul Chavez scored three goals to lead the Mustangs past the Barons. Ryan Strodtman added one goal for Otay Ranch. Anna Custodio, Ayden Mudd and Nick Stark each scored single goals for Bonita Vista.
The Barons led, 2-0, after the first period and 2-1 heading into the third period. The Mustangs scored two goals early in the third period to edge ahead, 3-2, before Stark scored with 8:15 to play to knot the teams in a 3-3 tie. Chavez scored an unassisted goal with 6:45 to play to stand up as the game-winner.
Trevor Fune scored four goals to lead Hilltop while Jacinto Montalvan scored twice. Kristen Lambertson was credited with two assists.
In games on Monday (Jan. 22), Otay Ranch blanked San Ysidro, 13-0, in a non-league contest behind five goals from Casey Prenatt and two goals and two assists from Sean Devaney. Strodtman and Sebastian Silva each scored two goals for the Mustangs while Kekoa Balajadia and Chavez each scored one goal.
Escondido Charter and Bonita Vista battled through a highly competitive game, with the White Tigers nursing a 2-0 lead through the first period and a 3-0 lead through two periods.
Bryce Mendoza and Zach Miszkiewicz each scored first-period goals and Ashton Domi added a second period goal for Escondido Charter.
Bo Santos, assisted by Stark, made the score 3-1 before Josh Aldridge scored an insurance goal to enable the White Tigers to skate to their second win of the season.
Charter coach Jake Pribble called the 2017-18 season a “very interesting” one for his team.
“We have 14 on the roster, two goalies, we were on the verge of having a JV team,” explained Pribble, who skates for the Maven Misfits in the American Inline Hockey League. “We had a great turnout – a bunch of newcomers and returning skaters. It’s nice to have the pick of the litter. Everyone is having a blast so far.”
Mesa League Standings
(Through Tuesday, Jan. 23)
Eastlake Titans 6-0, 15-0
Otay Ranch 4-2, 10-4
Hilltop Lancers 3-3, 9-5
Castle Park Trojans 3-4, 4-4
Bonita Vista Barons 0-7, 2-11
South Bay League Standings
(Through Tuesday, Jan. 23)
Chula Vista Spartans 5-1, 7-6
Mar Vista Mariners 4-1, 7-6
Southwest Raiders 3-2, 4-7
Sweetwater Red Devils 2-3, 2-5
San Ysidro Cougars 0-7, 0-13
Monday, Jan. 22
Eastlake 11, Chula Vista 0
Otay Ranch 10, San Ysidro 0
Escondido Charter 4, Bonita Vista 1
Tuesday, Jan. 23
Eastlake 5, Castle Park 3
Otay Ranch 4, Bonita Vista 3
Hilltop 6, Mar Vista 1
Northern exposure
Scripps Ranch took a 2-0 first period lead on a pair of goals by Matthew Gauthier and the Falcons extended their lead to 3-1 on a goal by Kyle Fraser, assisted by Cody Sherman, with 4:57 remaining in the second period. But the host Broncos roared back with three unanswered goal, scoring the only two goals of the third period, to prevail by a goal in high profile matchup of unbeaten teams.
Alex Pang got the first goal for Rancho Bernardo at 6:19 of the second period to make the score 2-1. Nik Thomas scored an unassisted goal with three seconds left in the second period to make the score 3-2.
Thomas scored at the 10:37 mark of the third period to tie the game, assisted by Kiril Yomplosky. The game-winner came with 2:43 left on the clock by Yomplosky, assisted by Thomas.
The Broncos recorded a narrow 19-18 edge in shots in the game. Jakob Ogan made 15 saves for Rancho Bernardo while Taylor Cady was credited with 15 saves for Scripps Ranch.
Gauthier’s first goal came on a power play while he scored his second goal at even strength. The Falcons managed to successfully kill off two RB power plays when they held a 3-1 lead but the Broncos still managed to rally back to win.
RB head coach Joey Gelsomino said it was difficult to comment on “such a well-played game by both teams.”
“Scripps had the early lead at 2-0 and we kept the wheels turning,” Gelsomino said. “Our bench was determined to get the win and we kept our momentum going; we didn’t let being down a few goals determine the outcome that early. It was nice to get this week started with a win, as we are playing Cathedral on Wednesday and Westview on Thursday. The players had this week circled and came ready to play.
“Hats off to Scripps, though, that game was a battle. The players had a great game plan and we struggled a bit with zone entry and they took away quite a few chances.”
The Broncos remained undefeated after defeating Cathedral Catholic, 5-1, on Wednesday (Jan. 24). The Broncos started slowly but netted three goals in the third period to cement the victory.
Rancho Bernardo improved to 9-0 following the win over the Dons, who dropped to 5-4 in North County League play, 5-5 overall.
Captain Miles Cook and assistant captain Nik Thomas each scored two goals in Wednesday’s game while goaltender Ethan Shute stopped 13 of 14 shots to post the victory.
In other games on Monday, Westview defeated Cathedral Catholic, 6-2, while Patrick Henry topped Poway by a score of 6-1.
Greg Oleyinchinko led the Wolverines with two goals and one assist while Kyle Bucholtz, Gavin Lissebeck, Ryle Lissebeck and Kaden Green each scored single goals.
Sam Lathus scored both goals for the Dons in the loss.
Matt Russell led the Patriots with four goals while Matt Voegel contributed one goal and two assists. Ruben Allen scored one goal for Patrick Henry, which out-shot the Titans 24-17.
Tanner Franklin scored the lone goal for Poway, which made the score 3-1 with 11:11 to play in the third quarter.
Cathedral Catholic, a two-time Kiwanis Cup finalist, has been beset with a short bench this season, according to head coach Luke Storno.
The Dons are led by four seniors: defensemen Michael Valeriano and Jake Belland, forward Matt Dammeyer and goaltender Patrick Henson.
“We’ve been leading on Patrick, our goalie, he’s really been our MVP so far,” Storno said. “He’s our last man back. He’s definitely kept us in our games.”
North County League Standings
(Through Monday, Jan. 22)
Rancho Bernardo Broncos 8-0, 8-0
Scripps Ranch Falcons 7-1, 8-1
Westview Wolverines 7-2, 7-2
Cathedral Catholic Dons 5-3, 5-4
Patrick Henry Patriots 3-7, 4-7
Escondido Charter White Tigers 1-8, 2-8
Poway Titans 0-9, 1-9
Monday, Jan. 22
Rancho Bernardo 4, Scripps Ranch 3
Westview 6, Cathedral Catholic 2
Patrick Henry 6, Poway 1
Escondido Charter 4, Bonita Vista 1 (non-league)
Wednesday, Jan. 24
Rancho Bernardo 5, Cathedral Catholic 1
Scripps Ranch 8, Westview 7 (shootout)
