The CIF-Metro Conference’s nine Sweetwater district teams are divided into three three-team leagues. It appears that Mar Vista High School will be the first of those nine teams to claim a league title after posting two wins each against Pacific Division League rivals Sweetwater and Southwest high schools in the teams’ best-of-three series.
It would be the first league title for Mar Vista since 2011.
The Mariners have defeated Sweetwater by scores of 1-0 and4-2 and topped Southwest by scores of 4-0 and 4-1.
Mar Vista has a two-game lead on both rivals in the league standings. Even should the Mariners drop their last meeting against the Red Devils and Southwest to end in a tie with one of them, they would still win the league title based on head-to-head tiebreakers.
“I believe that’s it, right?” Mar Vista head coach Luis Neria said.
The Mariners have indeed had a good season after languishing the past few years while barely able to field a team.
Mar Vista sports a 6-3 overall record – the fourth-best record in the district after Hilltop (8-1), Eastlake (7-1) and Bonita Vista (6-2).
The Mariners have battled hard, dropping a 6-0 decision to Metro-Mesa League leader Eastlake on Jan. 16 while doubling up Castle Park, 4-2, on Jan. 17 in a pair of non-league games this past week.
Riley Owen scored three goals for the Imperial Beach team in the win over Castle Park while Emery Lavendar collected a goal and assist.
Owen tops Mar Vista in scoring with 13 goals and five assists while Lavendar ranks second on the team with six goals and five assists.
Barring a potential rain-out, Mar Vista and Southwest are scheduled to meet in their annual rivalry game on Monday, Jan. 22. It’s a big deal for the schools even in roller hockey. The schools’ football teams meet in the annual Battle for the Bell game, which is a big deal on both campuses in the southwestern corner of South County.
Sweetwater defeated Southwest, 1-0, on Jan. 17 to improve to 2-2 in league,3-5-1 overall. Clarence Beansonda scored the game-winning goal for the Devils, whose lineup is comprised virtually of all underclassmen. Southwest dropped to 0-4 in league, 0-8 overall.
Eastlake improved its league record to 3-1 following a 10-3 win over Otay Ranch on Jan. 17. Chris Rollbusch led the Titan attack with three goals and three assists while Emilo Navarretre collected four points on two goals and two assists. Sid Jonason tacked on a hat trick while Riley McElroy contributed a goal and assist. Avery Jerman scored one goal.
Nick Bernal paced Otay Ranch (1-3 in league, 4-4 overall) with two goals and one assist while Dayna Coates tacked on one goal and one assist.
Navarrete had two goals and one assist in the win over Mar Vista while Nathaniel Francisco and Diego Falomir both tallied a goal and assist in Otay Ranch’s 4-1 non-league win over Southwest on Jan. 16. Solana Kitamura and Nicole Alvarez shared the shutout win over Mar Vista.
Scoring leaders for Eastlake include Rollbusch with 15 goals and 14 assists for 29 points, Navarrete with 13 goals and eight assists for 21 points, Jonason with 12 goals and three assists for 15 points and McElroy with eight goals and six assists for 14points.
Scoring leaders on Otay Ranch include Bernal with 11 goals and four assists for 15 points, Coates with five goals and 10 assists for 15 points and Falomir with eight goals and six assists for 14 points.
Hilltop equally made waves by securing the rights to this year’s Metro-South Bay League championship after defeating San Ysidro, 9-2, on Jan. 17. The Lancers improved to 4-0 in league play while San Ysidro fell to 2-2 in league play, 3-6 overall.
Castle Park is 0-4 in league, 1-7-1 overall.
Hilltop sported new uniforms for Wednesday’s game. Aariel Nichols changed her jersey number from 15 to 79. But whatever number she is wearing, you cannot mistake her on the playing court. She racked up eight points on seven goals and one assist to remain on top of the district scoring chart. She scored Hilltop’s first four goals and tallied four of its last five goals. Of her seven goals in the game, three came while shorthanded.
Despite missing one game this season because of an ice hockey conflict, she’s nevertheless notched 34 goals and three assists for 37 points.
Gianni Silva-Cestero netted two goals in the win over the Cougars to give him 20 goals and four assists.
In games on Jan. 16, Bonita Vista opened the triple-header with a 14-1 non-league win over Sweetwater as team scoring leader Jacob Hunter posted eight points on four goals and three assists and teammate Andrew Madrigal recorded six points (three goals, three assists).
The Barons led 8-0 and scored six unanswered goals following Sweetwater’s lone goal by Natsumi Cruz.
Other BV scorers in the game included Aryk (Kyra) Winters (two goals, two assists), Amira Alramadan (one goal, three assists), Israel Jurado (two goals, one assist) and Niqi Sanha (two goals, one assist).
Hunter has collected 25 goals and 11 assists for 36 points while missing two games. Madrigal has collected 16 goals and 10 assists for 26 points while missing one game.
Sweetwater District Team Records
Hilltop 8-1
Eastlake 7-1
Bonita Vista 6-2
Mar Vista 6-3
Otay Ranch 4-4
Sweetwater 3-5-1
San Ysidro 3-6
Castle Park 1-7-1
Southwest 0-9
Metro-Mesa League standings: Eastlake 3-1, Bonita Vista 2-2, Otay Ranch 1-3
Metro-South Bay League standings; Hilltop 4-0, San Yisdro 2-2, Southwest 0-4
Metro-Pacific League standings: Mar Vista 4-0, Sweetwater 2-2, Southwest 0-4
AHL REPORT
San Diego Gulls continuing to supply young talent to NH:L Anaheim Ducks, AHL All-Star Classic
By Phillip Brents
The American Hockey League’s 2024 All-Star Classic is scheduled Feb. 4-5 in San Jose. The Gulls will be represented by rookie defenseman Olen Zellweger, who ranks in a tie for second in scoring among the 32-team league’s first-year blue-liners with 25 points on eight goals and 17 assists in 34 game appearances.
The 20-year-old Calgary native has been a key contributor for the Gulls, ranking second overall in team scoring for the NHL Anaheim Ducks’ top developmental affiliate. He ranks third on the San Diego team with his 17 assists and is in a tie for fourth with his eight goals.
The second-round pick (34th overall) in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft is clearly producing, and developing his game in just his first season in the AHL.
He earned the No. 1 star in Saturday’s 4-3 win against the host Abbotsford Canucks with two goals and one assist in his first professional multi-point game to help Gulls extend their points streak to four games (3-0-1).
Zellweger scored the game’s jump goal and iced the game with the game-winning goal late in the third period.
“(I’m) just trying to play my game,” Zellweger said. “I think as a team, we played really hard. We had certain things that we wanted to execute that we talked about, so, I think those got done pretty well and we stuck around there and got one late.
“I think we have a belief that we’re not out of any game. We were leading for the majority of that whole game and, to be tied up, we’re fine in that position. And then that last-minute play there, I called (Gulls forward Brayden Tracey) that I was behind him, and he made a great play to let it kind of go through his legs there, and I had a ton of time there to walk in.”
The Gulls youngster, who received the Canadian Hockey League’s Defenseman of the Year award in 2022-23 (inclusive of the Ontario Hockey League, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and Western Hockey League), co-leads AHL blue-liners in goals and power play goals.
Thanks in part to Zellweger’s ongoing development, the Gulls (12-17-6) have bounced back under first-year coach Matt McIlvane with a 10-7-3 spurt since overcoming an early season 13-game (0-10-3) winless streak.
“I think just as a team we’re playing more mature,” Zellweger said. “Everyone is maybe building a little more chemistry together. So, all those things (are) starting to click … (We) can’t worry about what happened in the past.”
Stars in their eyes
The upcoming AHL All-Star Classic marks only the second time the mid-season event has been held in California after the Ontario Reign hosted it in 2020. The Coachella Valley Firebirds will host the 2025 game, marking the third time the event, which showcases the league’s top young NHL-bound talent, will be held in the Golden State. The AHL has been in operation since 1936.
The Firebirds turned in an extraordinary first season in the league by reaching the Calder Cup Finals, placing second to the Hershey Bears in a stunning Game 7 overtime loss. Coachella Valley went the distance in four of its five playoff series to finish 15-11 in postseason play.
In the meantime, the Gulls would like to showcase their team prior to the All-Star Classic. In a bid to move up the Pacific Division standings into playoff position, the Gulls claimed three out of four possible points from the Iowa Wild in a two-game series Jan. 12-13 at Pechanga Arena.
The Gulls claimed a 3-2 shootout win over the Wild in the series opener to pocket two valuable standings points before picking up one point in a 2-1 overtime loss the next night. Tracey notched the shootout winner.
The San Diegans’ points streak started with a 4-2 win over visiting Coachella Valley on Jan. 10, their first win against last season’s Calder Cup finalists.
Eight teams in the Pacific Division continue to possess winning records but only seven will secure Calder Cup playoff berths. The Gulls finished last weekend’s two-game set in Abbotsford 11 points off the playoff cut. They obviously still face a challenge to overcome.
The AHL All-Star Classic is comprised of two separate events — a skills competition between the Western Conference All-Stars and Eastern Conference all-stars on Feb. 4 and a four-team divisional round-robin championship mini-game tournament on Feb. 5.
Teams competing in the three-on-three AHL All-Star Challenge mini-game event include the Pacific Division All-Stars, Central Division All-Stars, North Division All-Stars and Atlantic Division All-Stars.
The Pacific Division All-Stars are defending champions.
The Western Conference includes players named to the Pacific Division All-Stars and Central Division All-Stars. The Eastern Conference includes players from the North Division and Atlantic Division all-star teams.
Each divisional team is represented by at least one player from each team in that division.
Former Gull and SoCal native Rocco Grimaldi is on the Central Division roster while NorCal’s Dustin Wolf, co-MVP last year, joins Zellweger on the Pacific Division team.
Grimaldi is currently leading the Chicago Wolves in scoring with 20 goals and 13 assists for 33 points in 34 games while Wolf, the reigning AHL Most Valuable Player, is working on another superlative season with a 16-6-1 record, 2.27 goals-against average and 0.929 save percentage.
The head coaches of each division team were determined by team standings as of Jan. 1. Calgary’s Trent Cull will guide the Pacific Division All-Stars.
The Gulls are among California’s five AHL teams, joining the San Jose Barrcuda, Ontario Reign, Bakersfield Condors and Coachella Valley.
Besides showcasing rising talent, this year’s event will also showcase the Barracuda’s new 4,500-seat Tech CU Arena and the Bay Area, in general.
Entering this week, the Tucson Roadrunners (24-12-1-1) topped the 10-team Pacific Division standings with 50 points, followed by Coachella Valley (22-12-3-1, 48 points), Calgary Wranglers (22-13-3, 47 points), Ontario (21-14-3-1, 46 points), Abbotsford (21-13-2-1, 45 points), Henderson Silver Knights (19-18-1-3, 42 points), Colorado Eagles (18-14-4-1, 41 points), Bakersfield (18-11-1-2, 39 points), San Diego (12-17-6, 30 points) and San Jose (11-20-7. 29 points).
Gulls rookie Ben King has climbed the team scoring chart along with Zellweger with nine goals and nine assists for 18 points in 31 games as the Gulls’ No. 5 scorer.
The 2024 NHL All-Star Weekend is scheduled Feb. 1-3 in Toronto, Canada. Right wing Frank Vatrano will represent the Ducks on the ice.
Ice chips
Zellweger, a two-time WHL Defenseman of the Year (Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy), led all CHL defensemen in points (32-48, 80), goals and assists during the 2022-23 season, his second consecutive season leading all junior defensemen in scoring (also 14-64, 78 in 2021-22).
The blueliner also led all CHL defensemen in playoff scoring (11-18, 29) in 14 games with Kamloops. In 180 career WHL games split between Everett and Kamloops from 2018-23, Zellweger tallied 50-133, 183 points with a +100 rating. He also scored 13-24,38 points with a +20 rating in 20 playoff contests.
He helped Canada to back-to-back gold medals at the 2022 and 2023 World Junior Championships, and also won gold at the 2021 U-18 World Championship. At the 2022 WJC, he became the highest scoring 18-or-younger defensemen with 2-9, 11 points. He led the tournament in plus/minus (+14) and co-led in assists, and led all tournament defensemen in points, assists and plus/minus.
Someone definitely in the spotlight of late, Zellweger received a call-up to the parent Ducks on Monday, perhaps as a well-timed reward.
The Gulls return to Pechange Arena Feb. 2-3 for Women in Sports Night (Feb. 2 at 7 p.m.) and Mexican Heritage Night (Feb. 3 at 6 p.m.)
