The CIF-Metro Conference 2023-24 roller hockey schedule will resume on Monday. Jan. 8. It’s a new year with renewed hopes for a league championship.
Actually, two of the three league titles involving Sweetwater Union High School District teams this season appear too close to call through the opening two weeks of play.
Eastlake is 2-0 to start Metro-Mesa League play after defeating defending league champion Bonita Vista, 5-4, in overtime on Dec. 6 and rolling past Oay Ranch, 9-1, on Dec. 11.
Bonita Vista is 1-1 following an 11-4 win over Otay Ranch on Dec. 7 while Otay Ranch is 0-2.
Overall, Eastlake enters the new year 5-0 including non-league wins over Hilltop (11-1 on Dec,. 7), Southwest (10-0 on Dec. 13) and Castle Park (11-0 on Dec. 14). Bonita Vista is 4-1 overall following non-league wins over Castle Park (10-0 on Dec. 11), Mar Vista (9-0 on Dec. 13) and San Ysidro (4-1 on Dec. 14).
Otay Ranch is 2-3 overall, including non-league wins over San Ysidro (10-0 on Dec. 6) and Sweetwater (5-0 on Dec. Dec. 13) and a non-league loss to Hilltop (5-1 on Dec. 14).
Bonita Vista had crafted a marathon 36-game winning streak against district opponents before falling in overtime to the Titans.
Eastlake and Bonita Vista rematch two more times in league play, so the Metro-Mesa League title appears wide open should the Barons start another lengthy winning streak.
Mar Vista enters the new year 2-0 in Metro-Pacific League play following wins over Southwest (4-0 on Dec. 6) and Sweetwater (1-0 on Dec. 7).
Sweetwater is 1-1 in league play after defeating Southwest in an overtime shootout on Dec. 11 following a 1-1 regulation deadlock.
Southwest has yet to win a game but was close to doing so in both losses so far. Like the Metro-Mesa League, Metro-Pacific League teams play one another three times, allowing for some very intriguing match-ups over the remainder of regular season play.
Overall, Mar Vista sports a 3-1 record, Sweetwater is 1-3 overall and Southwest is 0-4.
The Metro-South Bay League is more neatly defined with Hilltop boasting a 2-0 league start based on blowout wins over rivals Castle Park (10-0 on Dec. 6) and San Ysidro (12-3 on Dec. 11).
San Ysidro is 1-1 in league play while Castle Park is 0-2.
San Ysidro (1-4 overall) defeated Castle Park (1-4 overall) by a 5-2 score on Dec. 7.
But team rosters evolve as the season progresses and players eventually get the knack for playing what is a new game for many, so how teams may be playing in the final couple weeks of the season may not compare to how they started out.
Obviously, time will tell this season.
Scoring leaders
The CIF-Metro Conference is celebrating its 24th consecutive season of play this season, including an abbreviated schedule during the COVID-19 shut-down.
Roller hockey has always been a coed sport, with several female standouts emerging over the years.
Bonita Vista’s Kelly Nash is unquestionably the top female to ever play in the conference.
Nash, Bonita Vista’s “First Lady of Hockey,” has been a terror on the ice or roller hockey floor since she first donned a pair of skates, gloves and picked up a hockey stick.
She became the first female player to win a house league scoring title at Chula Vista RollerSkateLand to serve notice during her youth career.
In her first three games with the Barons during her CIF roller hockey debut, she accumulated 17 points (eight goals, nine assists) to ranked third in league scoring. She tallied one goal and six assists in an 18-0 season-opening win over Castle Park and added five goals and one assist in a 19-0 victory against Chula Vista.
She repeatedly proved she could more than keep up — or keep a step ahead — of her physically more intimidating male teammates and opponents.
Nash began playing roller hockey at age 7 and ice hockey at 12. Her high point in high school was winning the 2005 USA Hockey Girls’ U16 National Championship. She graduated from Bonita Vista in 2007.
She won two national championships with the Wisconsin Badgers (2009 and 2011) where she tallied 69 points (22 goals, 47 assists) in 153 career games. She received the Badgers’ Most Dedicated Player” award as a senior and graduated in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology.
“I think Kelly was unquestionably the top female player to ever play in the conference,” longtime Bonita Vista head coach Keith Quigley said. “We’ve had plenty of good female players over the years but Kelly was a real standout in the roller hockey conference. If she wasn’t playing roller hockey, she was at some rink playing ice hockey. I remember she would even often travel up to the LA area to play ice hockey up there.
” Kelly was such a strong player because she really understood the game and the flow of the game. She had great skating ability but also had really good hands. She was a great stick-handler and shooter. Very accurate shooter.”
The question thus begs, has a female ever won a CIF scoring title?
This season will be one to watch with Hilltop’s Aariel Nichols, Bonita Vista’s Jacob Hunter and Eastlake’s Chris Rollbusch emerging as the top three scorers in district play. Interestingly, Nichols (21 goals, two assists) and Hunter (16 goals, seven assists) are both tied with 23 points while Rollbusch (11 goals, nine assists) is close behind with 20 points.
Nichols tops the trio in goals scored.
Can she come out on top? With the ice hockey season concurrent with the roller hockey season, not everyone may be available for every game. That could play a factor. Mercy-rule games could also come into play thereby limiting scoring.
Also, some teams have more depth than others and rely on scoring throughout the lineup rather than one person doing most of the deeds.
Nash is still involved in hockey as the head women’s coach at Long Island University. Nash completed a highly decorated ice hockey playing career at the University of Wisconsin and also played professionally in the Premier Hockey Federation, winning the Isobel Cup in 2018 and later serving as associate head coach and head scout in 2021-22.
She won two national championships with the Wisconsin Badgers where she tallied 69 points (22 goals, 47 assists) in 153 career games. She received the Badgers’ Most Dedicated Player” award as a senior and graduated in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology.
She followed that up with six seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Vermont (2013-17) and Princeton University (2017-19).
She joined Long Island University in 2022. The Sharks remain in the driver’s season to repeat as NEWHA (New England Women’s Hockey Alliance) regular season champions. LIU is 14-1 to start the 2023-24 season.
As a Filipino-American, Nash is one of the few persons of color in the women’s college coaching ranks.
“What I mostly remember about Kelly when I coached her back in the day, she was so coachable,” Quuigley recounted. “Always had a great attitude and a smile on her face. If she was out on the hockey rink, she was smiling!
“I always really enjoyed coaching Kelly because she was a true team player and absolutely made the players around her better. She was always so focused out on the rink. Always trying to improve her skills and also always working with her teammates to make them better, too.”
Northern exposure
Overall, 15 schools countrywide are fielding roller hockey teams for the 2023-24 season, including six teams in the Escondido Sports Center-based North County League.
North County League members include Cathedral Catholic, Del Norte, Escondido Charter, Poway, Scripps Ranch and Westview. League members will play one another three times to fill out a 15-game regular season schedule.
Del Norte is the defending Kiwanis Cup champion after defeating Scripps Ranch in last season’s championship game.
Westview is off to a 3-0 start this season braced by a +19 goal-differential. Cathedral Catholic is 2-1 with a +8 goal-differential, followed by Del Norte (1-1-1), Poway (1-1-1), Scripps Ranch (1-2-0) and Escondido Charter (0-3).
CIF-METRO CONFERENCE
AHL REPORT
Gulls steal overtime win from arch-rival Reign
Entering Thursday’s American Hockey League encounter between the host San Diego Gulls and Southern California rival Ontario Reign, eight of the 10 teams in the Pacific Division standings had winning records. The catch: only seven teams in the division qualify for the Calder Cup playoffs.
The Gulls sat in last place with an 8-14-5 record – tied for a league-low eight wins – while the Reign was in the thick of the pack in fourth place with a 15-9-2-1 record. Ontario carried an 11-point bulge over San Diego as teams neared the one-third mark of the 2023-24 season.
If the Gulls are to make the playoffs, they will have to start defeating teams in their own division, It’s plain and simple.
They took that message to heart in Thursday’s game by coming out with a meaningful 4-3 overtime win to get back into a positive direction.
San Diego carried a 0-2-1 record in its last three games (0-2 against divisional opponents, 5-4-1 in the last 10 games) into Thursday’s game while Ontario was 0-2 in its last two games (4-5-1 in the last 10 games).
The Reign struck first on a goal by Samuel Fagemo, assisted by Brandt Clarke and Jacob Moverare, at 4:41 after the visitors had killed a man disadvantage against a very hungry Gulls team that had fired shot after shot at goaltender Erik Portillo.
Ontario doubled its lead at 5:37 on a goal by Samuel Helenius, assisted by Max Martin.
The goal was Fagemo’s 13thof the season and the assist the 23rd of the season for Clarke.
The visitors ended the opening period with a 9-8 edge in shots though the Reign appeared to enjoy a more robust territorial advantage.
The Gulls responded with two goals of their own to tie the game at 2-all. Olen Zellweger scored his sixth goal of the season (21st point) off the stick of Glenn Gawdin, who picked up his ninth assist, just 1:13 into the second period. Josh Lopina followed with his sixth goal of the season at 6:15, assisted by Trevor Carrick (his 15th assist).
But Ontario didn’t waver and took back the lead at 3-2 on Clarke’s sixth goal of the season at 11:37, assisted by Alex Turcotte (his 15th).
The Gulls regained the momentum to knot the score, 3-3, as Lopina notched his second goal of the game. Nathan Gaucher and Tyson Hinds drew the assists. The assist was Gaucher’s seventh of the season.
Two big saves by Portillo in the final seconds of the stanza kept the game tied. Shots were 10 apiece in the period, 19-18 for the Reign through 40 minutes.
Ontario killed a Gulls power play to start the third period as the game remained up for grabs.
There wasn’t any further scoring in regulation and the game advanced to a five-minute, three-on-three sudden victory overtime period.
The overtime was exciting with several courageous stops by the goaltenders as the teams combined for seven shots, 61 in the game.
It looked like Ontario might score the game-winner with 34 seconds to play but a huge goal line save by starter Calle Clang saved the day and the Gulls brought the puck down to the other end of the ice and Gawdin broke in alone to net the game-winner with 23 seconds to play to cap a memorable comeback win against their regional arch rival.
Lopina and Carrick drew the assists on the game-winning goal. Carrick picked up his 16th assist on the season while Lopina notched his fifth assist to go with two goals and one assist in the game.
Gawdin (one goal, one assist) earned first star of the game with the game-winning goal while Lopina, whose second goal sent the game into an extra period, was named the game’s second star. Zellweger completed a Gulls sweep of the post-game honors with one goal as the third star.
Clang stopped 26 of the 29 shots he faced while Portillo made 28 stops on 32 shots.
San Diego out-shot Ontario 32-29.
With the win, the Gulls (9-14-5) moved out of the cellar into ninth place – one standing point ahead of the San Jose Barracuda (9-13-4). San Diego has now won three of four games against Ontario on the season.
If the Gulls can somehow find their way into the playoffs and continue to develop their young talent, they could, a very big word here, wind up to be the surprise team in the division.
The season is a long way from being over.
“It was a really fun game tonight,” Lopina said. “Nice to have individual success, but I think we play amazing as a team. Guys were blocking shots. If we have to mic me up every game to get the boys to play like that, I think we should.
“The message was bring good energy, get back to our game and just have fun with it. I think we had fun tonight. We worked hard. It’s nice to get a result at home in front of the best fans in the league.”
“When we play our game, we find ways to win and we’re consistent through 60 minutes and that’s our identity and I think we showed that tonight, that it’s on us to do that every night,” Gawdin added.
“I mean, the division games are huge. We know that every game, for us, means a lot. We’re trying to climb through the standings, so it’s going to be another good test on Saturday (in Tucson).”
“We didn’t get the result in the first period, but we stayed patient with the game,” Gulls bench boss Matt McIlvane said. “We were a lot cleaner with our puck play, better with our support, and more competitive as a team.
“The only thing said in the first intermission was we’re playing well, just didn’t get rewarded. We did a lot of good in the first period, we just needed to sustain it and I thought we did a good job of that.”
“We’ll just let this one sink in. Different opponent coming up, so we’ll prepare for them.”
Stirring the pot
Zellweger and San Diego teammate Ben King appear to be developing fast as forwards in their maiden AHL seasons. Zellweger is tied for the team scoring lead with 21points (six goals, 15 assists) in 27 games … King ranks fifth in team scoring with 16 points (eight goals, eight assists) in 26 games.
San Diego 2, Rockford 1
Dec. 20, 2023 at Pechanga Arena San Diego
The Gulls entertained the Ice Hogs on a rainy Wednesday night in front of 4,854 fans in the third of four meetings between the teams this season. The Gulls swept the two games in Illinois earlier this month by a combined score of 12-1, including a 7-0 shutout.
The San Diego squad made it three straight in the win column against Rockford by pulling out a tight 2-1 win to capture the season series and remain perfect at 5-0 in all-time games between the two teams.
The IceHogs entered Wednesday’s game riding a downturn with eight losses in their last nine games while the Gulls, having broken free of their early season 13-game winless spell, continued to pick up points in the standings. The Gulls improved to 5-2 in their last seven outings and 6-3-1 in their last 10 games.
The locals may have played one of their best games of the season in a 3-1 loss to the visiting Henderson Silver Knights the previous Saturday on Teddy Bear Toss Night. While not measuring up to the Silver Knights, Rockford presented a challenge nonetheless and seemed mere inches away from making the right pass that could lead to potential trouble.
San Diego rookie Olen Zellweger opened scoring at the 32-second mark to stake the hosts to a quick 1-0 lead. Assists went to Glenn Gawdin and Nikita Nesterenko. The goal was Zellweger’s fifth of the season while Gawdin picked up his seventh assist and Neterenko logged his eighth helper.
There was no scoring in the second period and Rockford continued to hang dangerously close with a 20-14 edge in shots through 40 minutes.
The IceHogs evened the score 1:25 into the third period on a goal by Jackson Cates, his third of the season, with a single assist going to Colton Dach (his ninth).
Rockford out-shot the hosts 9-8 in the third period but the Gulls managed to cash in on a power play to net the game-winning goal scored at 13:57 by defenseman Trevor Carrick. The goal was Carrick’s fourth of the season. Jacob Perreault recorded his 10thassist while Brayden Tracey notched his sixth.
San Diego goaltender Calle Clang picked up first star of the game honors with 28 saves on 29 shots while Carrick was voted the game’s second star with the GWG and Zellweger the third star with the team’s opening tally.
Rockford out-shot San Diego 29-22. The power play goal proved to be the difference in the game as the Gulls finished 1-3 on the man-advantage while the IceHogs were 0-3. Carrick, third on the team in scoring with 18 points (four goals, 14 assists), paced the victors with four shots.
The Gulls improved to 8-12-4 while Rockford dropped to 10-12-3 (1-7-2 in its last 10 games).
The teams rematch Friday night at 7 p.m. at Pechanga Arena.
“Fast start.,” Gulls head coach Matt McIlvane said. “Obviously, it could have gone fast the other way, they had a grade-A chance in the first seconds of the game as well. I liked probably our first half of the first period, then felt like we just had trouble with the puck.
“Rockford is a team that’s going to thrive in transition, and I thought we fueled it a little bit too much and that’s why we had to defend more than attack through phases of the game. Not our best game, not the prettiest hockey game to watch, trying to, you know, find a way to win and being patient enough with the game, that we get rewarded with six minutes left on a power play. It’s great to get a result.
“I think that’s the best game I’ve seen Calle play this season. I just thought he looked so calm, composed. That little trip that he had up with the Ducks, you can get so much momentum and energy from that. The last game that he was in, Patrick Kane’s on the ice in Detroit and it’s great that he could carry some of that momentum here. Him and (Gulls goaltending coach Jeff Glass) have been working so hard on his game and it’s great to see a guy like Calle get rewarded.
“Where we have to live is just how can we learn and get better. We did enough well that we want to keep and build on, but let’s keep getting better.”
San Diego sits in ninth place in the Pacific Division standings – one point ahead of the Bakersfield Condors (9-10-0-1). However, the Gulls are tied for the worst winning percentage in the 10-team division (0.417) with the San Jose Barracuda (also 8-12-4).
Seven teams in the division continue to possess winning records, led by the Calgary Wranglers at 16-7-2 with a 0.680 points percentage (fourth best in the 32-team league).
Zellweger continues to develop in his first AHL season, moving into a tie for the team scoring lead with 19 points (five goals, 14 assists). Andrew Agozzino is tied with the Gulls rookie with six goals and 13 assists.
TEDDY BEARS RAIN ON THE ICE AS GULLS ABSORB 3-1 LOSS TO SILVER KNIGHTS
Live reindeer and melting snow. Welcome to the San Diego Gulls’ 2023 Winter Wonderland. While nighttime temperatures have regularly dipped into the 40s of late, the high temperature for Saturday’s pregame festivities was a very balmy 78.
The two reindeer on display likely welcomed the warm weather, but it played havoc with the small snowfield set up in the parking lot. Kids were relegated to playing in slush for the most part. But they had fun with tossing snow, er, slush balls at each other.
Presiding over the event were Santa and Mrs. Claus. They drew the honor of dropping the ceremonial puck.
Fans began filing into Pechanga Arena San Diego with plastic wrapped plush toys to throw onto the ice following the first goal in the game scored by the host Gulls.
It’s always a sight watching the thousands of projectiles fly toward the ice, it’s fun for the fans, and it’s for a good cause with Rady Children’s Hospital being the primary beneficiary.
It’s the Teddy Bear Toss, and it has become a hockey holiday tradition.
The visiting Henderson (Nev.) Silver Knights won, 3-1, but the 11,236 fans in attendance were rewarded with the Teddy Bear Toss goal came 25 seconds into the third period off the stick of Brayden Tracey. The goal, Tracey’s fifth of the season and assisted by Nathan Gaucher and Judd Caulfield, tied the game, 1-1, and brought the teddy bears of all sizes raining onto the ice.
“We weren’t playing great, but we got the goal and we got the teddy bears on the ice,” Gaucher said. “I think it’s good. We had a great crowd today. It was fun.”
The first period ended scoreless with visiting Henderson holding a 15-6 shot advantage. Tomas Suchanek, just named AHL Player of the week with a 3-0-0 record and 1.00 GAA, 0.961 save percentage and one shutout during the Gulls’ recent Midwest road trip, made 15 saves to six for Silver Knights starter Isaiah Saville (Anchorage, Alaska).
The Silver Knights scored the only goal in the second despite a 13-8 advantage in shots by the hosts. The puck came from the side boards, Suchanek made a play for the puck at the edge of the crease but could not control it with his stick. The puck kept squirting along the ice. Henderson’s Mason Morelli did a spin-o-rama move and lifted it back past the Gulls netminder, unassisted.
Following Tracey’s game-tying goal, the Gulls maintained the momentum and nearby tacked on two more goals in rapid succession.
The Silver Knights responded with a power play goal at 8:59 to slip ahead, 2-1, on the scoreboard. Jonas Roundbjerg netted his third tally of the season, assisted by Brendan Brisson (Manhattan Beach) and Grigori Denisenko. The assist was Brisson’s 11th of the season.
The Gulls took a penalty at the scoring break, allowing the visitors to keep the momentum.
Henderson owned an 11-6 edge in shots with five minutes remaining in the third period to take a 34-25 lead in the game in that department.
The Gulls faithful began airing out their lungs for a Gulls comeback in the dying minutes of the contest.
The Nevada visitors had two chances at the empty net while the Gulls had a centering pass go through the Henderson crease. But Morelli sealed the victory for the Silver Knights when he struck from the blue line into the vacant San Diego cage with 6.8 seconds remaining in regulation.
Morelli netted the empty net goal, his seventh goal of the season, assisted by Byron Froese and Dysin Mayo.
Henderson finished the game with a 35-27 advantage in shots. Three stars included No. 1 Tracey (Teddy Bear Toss goal), No. 2 Suchanek (32 saves) and No. 3 Rondbjerg (game-winning goal).
San Diego coaches and players said the team’s eight-day layoff after returning from a week-long road trip was not easy to overcome.
“It’s not easy when you don’t play for, I think it was eight days between our games, or something like that,” Gulls head coach Matt McIlvane said. “To be able to be sharp really would have been a big challenge for us, and I didn’t feel like we were. I was disappointed in that part. Get through the first, 0-0. I was proud of the way we battled back in the second. I thought that we started to have a great push.
“Unfortunately, they get the first goal on the broken stick. It was fun seeing the teddy bears come down and at that moment you think that the momentum is going to go, but unfortunately, we took a penalty, and they were able to capitalize on their power play and that ends up being the difference in the game. For me, the story of the game, we weren’t sharp enough to beat a heavy team like Henderson.”
Henderson entered Saturday’s game with a 12-10-1-2 record and 27 standings points (sixth place) while San Diego was 7-11-4 with 18 standings points (ninth place). The top seven teams in the 10-team Pacific Division qualify for the Calder Cup playoffs.
McIlvane called the Pacific Division “very tough.”
“There’s not one team that doesn’t bring it every single night,” the San Diego coach said. “You’re going to have a really hard time out working anybody. All we’re going to be able to do is match and we feel like that’s a strength of our team. When we’re on, we feel like we can dictate the play with our pace and physicality. This is a great division and we’re in the process as a team of learning about it and how sharp we have to be all the time.”
The Gulls host Rockford in their upcoming two games: Wednesday, Dec. 20, and Friday, Dec. 22, and have a home game against Tucson on Saturday, Dec. 23. San Diego is 2-0 against Rockford this season.
Gulls defenseman Trevor Carrick said the team would like to build momentum in these final holiday season games for the 2024 portion of its schedule when the new year rolls around.
“It’s huge,” the San Diego defenseman said. “You know, these other division games especially, you know, are big for us in getting those points. It’s nice we saw Rockford recently on the road there, so we’re familiar with them and obviously got two big wins against them. We like how we play against them. Going into the break, you want all the momentum going into it because I know our schedule coming out of it is tough.”
Puck drops
Henderson had two players with local connections – forward Gage Quinney (Las Vegas native) and Brisson.
Quinney was born in Las Vegas while his father Ken was playing with the Las Vegas Thunder in the defunct International Hockey League (1993-98).
Brisson played two seasons with the Los Angeles Jr. Kings (2014-16) before playing three seasons for the esteemed Shattuck St. Mary’s hockey school. He played two seasons in the United States Hockey League with the Green Bay Gamblers and Chicago Steel before suiting up two seasons with the University of Michigan.
He joined the Silver Knights for seven games at the tail end of the 2021-22 season, recording eight points (three goals, five assists). He logged 37 points in 58 games in 2022-23. He has been productive this season with 20 points (nine goals, 11 assists) in 26 games.
He has represented the United States in two international events.
