The CIF-Metro Conference unveiled its 2024 Kiwanis Cup roller hockey playoffs with a 12-team bracket. All six North County League teams qualified to no one’s surprise while six of the Sweetwater district’s nine teams also made it through to postseason competition.
Regular season North County League champion Westview received the No. 1 seed while NCL runner-up Del Norte received the No. 2 seed.
Metro-Mesa League co-champions Bonita Vista (No. 3) and Eastlake (No. 4) were the highest-seeded Sweetwater district teams.
All those four top-seeded teams received first round byes, leaving eight lower-seeded teams to battle it out in the opening round.
Playoffs faced off Wednesday, Feb. 28, with two games at the Castle Park High School outdoor rink and two games at the Escondido Sports Center.
In the first game at the Castle Park rink, ninth-seeded Otay Ranch upset eighth-seeded Hilltop (Metro-South Bay League champions) by a score of 9-2 while sixth-seeded Scripps Ranch shut out 11th-seeded Mar Vista (Metro-Pacific League co-champions) by a score of 16-0 in a game that was called with 4:15 to play in the second period.
Otay Ranch and Hilltop had met once in non-league play with Hilltop recording a 5-3 win. But things have changed over the course of the season and Otay Ranch proved to be the better team the second time.
The Mustangs scored twice in the opening period with both goals by Nick Bernal. Otay Ranch tacked on four more goals in the second period to lead 6-0 with Bernal scoring three of them.
The Mustangs extended their lead to 8-0 with the opening two goals in the third period.Bernal had one assist while Coates also dished out one goal and one assist.
While Bernal put on a dazzling display with five goals and two assists, Otay Ranch goaltender David Cosino was the other star of the game with solid defense between the pipes. Aerial Nichols, the conference’s female scoring wizard was held off the scoresheet until 3:27 left in the game. She scored again with 10 seconds left.
Nichols, the regular season scoring leader among Sweetwater district schools, certainly had her chances. She hit the post seven times, buzzed shots just wide or was otherwise robbed by Cosino.
“Everyone had a better sense of the game and knew where to be,” Bernal said of the Mustangs’ marked improvement (along with most of the younger teams) over the course of the season..
“Have some fun and practice,” Diego Falomir added.
Otay Ranch coach Christian Welch noted it was the first playoff win in his six years coaching the team.
The Falcons scored off the opening face-off and racked up a 7-0 lead on Mar Vista in as many minutes. The Mariners finished with three shots on goal in the shortened two-period game, forcing Scripps Ranch goaltender Nissim Silver to lay on his back to stop one almost certain Mariner goal.
The Falcons finished fourth in the six-team North County League standings.
“It’s a very young team, we only have one senior, a lot of juniors,” said first-year coach Jonathan Gauthier, who takes over at the helm for the recently retired Greg Friedman. “We just want to compete like we always have, be the last team standing at the end.”
That statement proved prophetic.
The Falcons finished regular season play 6-5-1 behind Westview (first place), Del Norte (second place) and Cathedral Catholic (third place).
Del Norte is the defending Kiwanis Cup champion. Scripps Ranch finished runner-up last season and could be a team to surprise this year.
“The North County League is steady.,” Gauthier said. “You have to be prepared every game.”
Scripps Ranch scoring leaders in the opening playoff game included Garion Barber (3 goals, 3 assists), Cale Flaherty (3 goals, 2 assists), Carvin Barber (3 goals, 1 assist), Tommy Fraser (1 goal, 3 assists), Emily Waugeman (2 goals, 1 assist), Pierce Nelson (1 goal, 2 assists), Owen Spurrier (2 goals) and Julian Thibeault (1 goal).
Otay Ranch advanced to meet top-seeded Westview in the quarterfinals (Feb. 29) at the Escondido Sports Center while Scripps Ranch earned a return trip to the Castle Park rink to match up with the third-seeded Barons.
The Castle Park rink also played host to the quarterfinal matchup pitting the fourth-seeded Titans and fifth-seeded Cathedral Catholic, which eliminated 12th-seeded Sweetwater in the teams’ opening-round pairing by a score of 20-0.
Cathedral Catholic broke out to a 7-0 first-period lead on the Metro-Pacific League co-champion Red Devils and led 15-0 after two periods.
Maddie Brown, the Dons’ first female player, netted a hat trick while Chris Thompsonh also recorded a three-goal hat trick. Noah Hrbovsky paced Cathedral Catholic overall with four points on three goals and one assist. Players with three points included Brady Nelson (two goals, one assist), Matt Matsuda (one goal, two assists) and Vison Ha (three assists).
A total of 14 Dons recorded either a goal or assist in the runaway victory. Vigo Garcia and Nate Clark each had one goal and one assist.
Lucien Kurtzhall, Matt Cavanaugh and Ben Pothier each scored one goal.
In the second game of the double-header at the Escondido Sports Center, seventh-seeded Poway slipped past 10th-seeded Escondido Charter by the tight score of 5-4 in a regulation contest.
Escondido Charter led, 2-1, after the opening period but Poway scored two goals in the second period to move into a 3-2 lead. The teams each scored twice in the third period.
Poway opened scoring with 5:30 to play in the first period to snap a scoreless stalemate. Michael Nilsen got the game’s jump goal, unassisted. The White Tigers countered with back-to-back goals from Jessie Coons. Parker Freeman assisted on the game-tying goal while Coons’ second goal was unassisted.
Poway broke through with second-period goals by Connor Liddle and Cole Davidson, assisted by Dylan Krekeler and Nilsen, respectively.
The Titans went ahead 4-2 just 13 seconds into the third period as Davidson scored his second goal of the game, assisted by Corban Hlavac. Escondido Charter countered with two more goals from Coons to tie the game, 4-4. Coons made it a 4-3 game with 7:58 to play, assisted by Freeman. Coons scored an unassisted goal with 6:03 left to deadlock the score.
Poway completed scoring in the game with a dramatic goal from Davidson – his hat trick goal – with just 24 seconds remaining in the contest for a 5-4 win.
Poway advanced to meet No. 2 Del Norte in the quarterfinals the following day.
FALCONS, DONS SKATE PAST METRO-MESA CO-CHAMPS BARONS, TITANS
The Bonita Vista Barons and Eastlake Titans tied for this year’s Metro-Mesa League championship and both teams earned home dates in the quarterfinal-round of the Kiwanis Cup playoffs. No. 3 Bonita Vista hosted No. 6 Scripps Ranch while No. 4 Eastlake hosted No. 5 Cathedral Catholic in a double-header Feb. 29 at Castle Park High School.
Both Sweetwater district teams faced uphill battles but Bonita Vista especially so following an injury to starting goalkeeper Eliana Santos, who was out of the lineup with a concussion following an all-star game encounter the prior week. The Falcons came out flying and raced to an early 6-0 lead in eventually sealing an 11-1 mercy-rule victory to advance to the semifinals.
Jacob Hunter scored the lone goal for Bonita Vista, which uncharacteristically trailed 10-1 after the first period.
The Falcons (8-5-1) received five goals and one assist from Garion Barber and three goals and one assist from Thibeault to lead the way for the North County League squad. Flaherty tacked on one goal and three assists while Eugene Kang scored two goals. Nelson had one assist.
The second game of the playoff double-header expected to be closer, and it was.
Cathedral Catholic, the third-place finish in the North County League stands, led 1-0 through a tightly-played opening period. Noah Hrbovsky scored the goal to stake the Dons to the lead. But it came begrudgingly so as Eastlake netminder Solana Kitamura stopped 10 of the 11 shots she faced.
The second period was tightly-played as well. The Titans tied the game, 1-1, on a backhand scramble in front of the Cathedral Catholic net by Sid Jonason, assisted by Emilio Navarrete.
The Dons broke the tie with two goals to end the period. Cathedral Catholic took a 2-1 lead on a goal by Matsuda and moved ahead 3-1 on an ensuing goal by Garcia, assisted by Brown.
The Dons scored four goals in the third period to win 7-1, though each goal was hard-earned. Matsuda scored a shorthanded goal while picking up two assists to finish the game with two goals and two assists to lead the Dons. Clark had one goal and one assist for Cathedral Catholic.
Brady Nelson and Ben Pothier also scored goals in the third period.
Pothier and his brother Sam, the team’s goaltender, are both Canadian imports.
“We have a great bunch of kids,” third-year Cathedral Catholic coach Pete Sciabarra said. “They’re smart, excellent students. They play other sports. They go to a really strong academic school; it’s been a lot of fun coaching these kids.”
Sciabarra noted most, if not all, of his players also play ice hockey.
“What’s interesting there is that many are on the same ice hockey team but play against each other for their individual schools in roller hockey,” Sciabarra said. “They’re having a blast.”
Eastlake coach Chris Rollbusch was equally complimentary of his team.
“They’re a high-caliber team without a doubt,” Rollbusch said in regard to the Dons. “I’m proud of these kids because they were able to play with a high-caliber team. That’s what we work for. It was a good season.”
In two games in Escondido on Feb. 29, Westview topped Otay Ranch, 11-0, while Poway upset Del Norte by a score of 4-3 in overtime.
Brayden Firkus paced the No. 1 Wolverines with six goals while Sean Ochoa contributed a hat trick. Jackson Canty had one goal and two assists while Marlie Berglin had one goal and one assist.
Westview led, 5-0, after the first period and 8-0 entering the third period.
Defending Kiwanis Cup champion Del Norte powered ahead, 2-0, on first-period goals by Max Wu (assisted by Ahad Biabani) and Darin Cerasuolo (unassisted). The teams skated through a scoreless second period to heighten tension in the game.
Poway broke the Nighthawks’ shutout on an unassisted goal by Nilsen with 9:47 to play in the third period. Del Norte got that one back, however, on an unassisted goal by Taimur Baiabani just 41 seconds later to push the Nighthawks in front 3-1.
The Poway defense clamped down and did not allow Del Norte another goal while the Titan offense came through with two late goals in the period – both by Davidson — to send the game into an exciting overtime conclusion. Davidson scored his first goal of the game with 2:55 to play in regulation to cut the Del Norte lead to 3-2. He tied the game with another unassisted goal with 1:42 to play for a 3-3 deadlock.
The game-winning goal came at 10:28 of overtime as Davidson set up Liddle for the game-clincher. Davidson finished the game with three points (two goals, on assist).
SEMIFINALS RECAP: WESTVIEW TIPS DONS IN OT, FALCONS TOP TITANS
Because of the threat of rain, the semifinals were moved to Monday, March 4, at the Escondido Sports Center. Both games were close.
Westview defeated Cathedral Catholic, 4-3, in overtime while Scripps Ranch parlayed a 2-1 first-period lead into a 5-1 victory to advance to the championship round.
The Dons took a 1-0 first-period lead over the Wolverines as Matsuda netted an unassisted goal. Cathedral Catholic doubled its lead to 2-0 just 20 seconds into the second period on a goal by Clark, assisted by Nelson. The Dons made it 3-0 on a goal by Cavanaugh, assisted by Matsuda, with 11:32 to play in the middle period.
There was still plenty of time left in the game and Westview made use of it.
The Wolverines scored their first goal in the game with 9:32 to play in the second period – Josh Mahlow from Cole Craft. The period ended with a 3-1 Cathedral Catholic lead.
Westview wasn’t finished, however, and came back with three more goals to win the game. Canty got right to work with an unassisted goal just 59 seconds into the third period to make it a one-goal game at 3-2. Cedric Hume notched the game-tying goal – 3-3 – with 10:51 to play in the period.
The teams skated deadlocked into the overtime period. At the 14:23 mark Craft scored the game-winner, unassisted, to propel the Wolverines into the championship game, which because of rain, has now been scheduled for Monday, March 11, at the Escondido Sports Center.
Craft led the Wolverines with a goal and assist in the semifinal while Matsuda did the same for the Dons.
Scripps Ranch advanced to its second consecutive Kiwanis Cup final on the strength of a strong second- and third-period effort. The Falcons nudged ahead, 1-0, on a goal by Garion Barber – the first of his five tallies in the semifinal game.
Poway tied the matchup, 1-1, as Charlotte Crudale fed Nilsen. But Scripps Ranch went ahead for good as Barber capitalized on a feed from Julian Thibault to push his team in front, 2-1, at the end of the period.
The Falcons flew through the second period with two more goals from Barber, both unassisted. Barber completed his five-goal rampage with the lone tally in the third period, assisted by Pierce Nielsen.
Monday’s championship game is scheduled to roll at 6:10 p.m.
Photos by Phillip Brents
AHL REPORT
MONDAY NIGHT HOCKEY
Desperate to pick up any kind of standings point (regulation win, overtime loss, shootout loss, overtime loss or shootout loss), the San Diego Gulls hosted their intra-divisional rival Bakersfield Condors on a rare Monday night encounter on March 4.
The Condors entered the game 14 standings points ahead of the Gulls in the Pacific Division playoff race with the head-to-head encounter creating a four-point swing for the teams.
The Condors left Pechanga Arena San Diego with a 12-point bulge over the Gulls in the battle of birds following Monday’s 5-3 San Diego victory. It was a positive start to a critical six-game home stand. For the Gulls, who entered the game in last place in the 10-team division standings.
SAN DIEGO 5, BAKERSFIELD 3
The Gulls (19-24-8) netted the opening goal at 4:27as the puck slipped through the pads of Bakersfield starter Olivier Rodrigue. Ben King recorded his 11th goal of the season, assisted by Tyson Hinds and Robert Hagg.
The Condors (27-20-2-2)had opened the game with a 4-1 edge in shots and wide territorial advantage.
The game settled down, however, and it wasn’t long before the Gulls — riding a seven-game winless spell (0-6-1) — held a 6-5 edge by the middle of the period.
The hosts added a power play goal at the 15:50 mark to take a 2-0 lead. Glenn Gawdin registered his 17thtally and 39th point of the season. Assists went to Trevor Carrick (his 26th) and Chase De Leo (his 19th).
The Condors got one back, however, at 16:53 when Raphael Lavoie scored an unassisted goal to halve the Gulls lead to 2-1. The goal was Lavoie’s 21st of the season.
The Gulls got that one back with 27.9 seconds to play in the opening period when Carrick squeezed the puck between Rodrigue and the near post. Nathan Gaucher and Brayden Tracey assisted Carrick’s sixth goal of the season.
3-1 Gulls and a promising start to the game.
The hosts finished the first period with a 13-11 advantage in shots.
The Condors made it a 3-2 game when Drake Caggiula scored his 13th goal of the season at 5:45 of the second period. Bakersfield controlled the early tempo of the period with a 9-3 edge in shots to lead 20-16 in that department.
The visitors leveled the score with 0.8 seconds left in the middle stanza on a power play goal by longtime Condor Seth Griffith, his 12th tally of the season.
Shots favored Bakersfield 24-22 through two periods.
The teams traded scoring chances at both ends throughout the third period. The hosts started to get the better chances while ringing up an 18-7 edge in shots over the latter part of the game.
King scored his second goal of the contest, 12th of the season, with 6:07 remaining in regulation on a clutch wrap-around shot, sneaking the puck behind Rodrigue. Gawdin and Hagg assist. The assist was Gawdin’s 23rdof the season.
The Condors rolled the dice and pulled Rodrigue for the extra attacker with 1:56 to play. Josh Lopina punished the visitors with an empty net goal at 18:47. The goal was Lopina’s 11th of these ason. Pavol Regenda picked up his 13th assist on the game-icing goal.
Final shots were 34-27 for the victors.
King, a fourth round (107thoverall) pick in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft by the parent Anaheim Ducks, earned first star honors with two goals while Carrick (one goal, one assist) and Gawdin (one goal, one assist) were named the game’s second and third stars, respectively. Tomas Suchanek stopped 24 of 27 shots to record the goaltender win. Rodrigue had 29 saves on 33 shots he faced.
Monday’s win was a positive turnaround from last Friday’s 3-0 blanking in Ontario.
“I think we just wanted to get pucks and bodies to the net,” King said. “We really have not had enough net front presence. So, I think we worked on that. We talked about it. I think we did a good job and worked out at the end so we’re happy.”
The Gulls were also happy with a revived third period comeback after being out-played in the second period by the Condors.
“Biggest one since I can remember,” Carrick said. “.It showed us good character out there after that second period and just forgetting about that and coming out and just playing real mature, and obviously King with that big goal with a few minutes left was nice to see go in.”
“I know there was a lot of good that happened in our third period,” San Diego head coach Matt McIlvane said. “We certainly needed a rebound after our second period, and I thought that we did. We got off of our heels and into the attack and it gave us a really good opportunity to play the way that we want to play, and the guys got rewarded in the end.”
The Gulls get a crack at another divisional foe on Wednesday when they host the division-leading Coachella Valley Firebirds.
Can lightning strike twice?
The Gulls still have a lot of catching up to do. They are six standings points behind eighth place Henderson, which is six points behind Bakersfield for the division’s final playoff berth.
San Diego pulled two points ahead of San Jose to snap the deadlock for last place in the division. The Gulls are a distant 16 points behind sixth place Abbotsford.
The season continues, in the meantime.
Gulls ground first place Coachella Valley in shootout win
The Gulls faced off a two-game home ice series against the Pacific Division-leading Coachella Valley Firebirds on Wednesday with a bead on making their current six-game home stand something to remember as well as get the team heading back in the right direction – up the division standings.
It was a tall order against a team 27 standings points ahead of them but one the Gulls needed to solve if their playoff aspirations are to be realized.
SAN DIEGO 4, COACHELLA VALLEY 3 (OT)
The Firebirds’ three-game winning streak came to an end as the Gulls rallied from two one-goal deficits to nudge the game into overtime and eventually win in a five-round shootout.
Coachella Valley took a 1-0 lead with 12:12 remaining in the first period on a long shot by Devin Shore, his sixth of the season, assisted by Gustav Olofsson and Cale Fleury (his 21st).
The Firebirds went on the power play with 10:26 to play in the opening period but the Gulls played the man-down situation well, especially cutting down entry over the blue line.
The hosts recorded the equalizer with 5:52 to play in the period as Andrew Agozzino notched his 14th goals of the season, 42nd point of the season. Sasha Pastujov and Tyson Hinds picked up the assists.
Nathan Gaucher had a chance to put his team ahead on a shorthanded breakaway but his shot sailed just over the crossbar. Gaucher was held by Coachella Valley’s Shane Wright to put the Gulls on a brief power play.
Firebirds starter Chris Driedger swept away a puck that had gotten behind him with 2:38 to play in the period to keep the score even.
The opening stanza ended 1-1 with the visitors holding a 17-9 edge in shots.
Each team scored a goal in the second period.
The Gulls took a 2-1 lead at 1:58 by Brayden Tracey, his eighth of the season, unassisted.
The Firebirds tied the game, 2-2, at 19:13 on Ryan Winterton’s 16th goal of the season, assisted by Ville Ontavainen (his 21st) and Peetro Seppala, both Finns.
Coachella Valley held a 29-16 edge in shots through two periods.
Each team scored in the third period. The Firebirds took a 3-2 lead at 12:07 as Winterton scored his second goal of the game, 17th this season, off assists from Wright and Marian Studenic. The goal came after a goalmouth scramble that left San Diego goaltender Calle Clang sprawled at the side of the net.
A delay of game penalty for a puck over the glass set up the hosts for the game-tying goal as Pastujov scored a power play goal at 15:47. Robert Hagg and Nikita Nesterenko provided the assists. The goal was Pastujov fifth of the season while the assist was the 16th for Nesterenko.
After being out-shot 12-7 in the second period, the Gulls found their second wind to out-shoot the High Desert visitors 14-9 in the pivotal third period. Shots in overtime favored Coachella Valley 3-1 but a hit post kept the Firebirds from celebrating an overtime victory.
The game proceded to a shootout. Shore and King were scoreless in the first round for their respective teams while Logan Morrison (CV) and Nesterenko (SD) both scored for a 1-1 standoff. Wright and Tracey both were stopped in the third round as were Firebirds captain Max McCormick and Gulls captain Chase DeLeo in the fourth round.
The next shooter to score would carry their team to a victory. Former Gulls and AHL scoring leader Andrew Poturalski was stopped by Clang but Patujov deposited the puck behind Driedger for the game-winner to the delight of the 4,676 in attendance.
Pastujov (first star), Tracey (second star) and Clang (third star) swept the three-star awards for the Gulls as the hosts captured the shootout 2-1.
Coachella Valley out-shot San Diego 41-32 through overtime. Clang made 38 saves on 41 shots (and four more in the shootout) while Driedger stopped 28 of 31 shots.
Players like Pastujov, Hagg and Nesterenko moved up in the lineup following call-ups to Glenn Gawdin and Pavol Regenda in the wake of trades made by the parent Anaheim Ducks.
“I think we showed a lot of heart today,” Tracey said after the game. “We were down players. We had situations going on where we had to play short, and we battled. It took all of us and I think once we went down, we didn’t give up or lay back at all. We put the pressure on and kept going at it.
“I think our coaches do a real good job of settling us down and giving us a game plan and we just stuck to it and went hard. We just need to put our heads down and work. We know what the standings situation looks like, and we know we need these points really badly. We just need to come back and perform and put our heads down and go to work.”
“It’s a great opportunity, that’s what it is. From a player’s perspective, all they want is ice time and opportunity. Today certainly provided plenty of that for the guys in our lineup. I thought that we had a bunch of people step up and it was a really gutsy team effort.
“Being able to stay composed, stay with our plan even when the odds seem against us, it shows some growth from our group.
“Sasha’s been great. Again, opportunity. It gives him a chance to play a little bit higher in the lineup, gives him a chance to get a look back on the power play and all that he did was take advantage of it. For someone that is trying to make their footprint in the league and start climbing, that’s what he’s got to do. For Sash, kudos to him for earning that opportunity and taking advantage of it.”
The teams rematch on Friday at 7 p.m. at Pechanga Arena. They play four more times to close out their eight-game regular season schedule – two home games each.
The Gulls and Firebirds are currently tied 2-2 in the first four meetings.
“I think just with the confidence we’ve earned in ourselves over the last few games, we knew we’d be home for the next two weeks, starting on Monday,” Pastujov said. “We couldn’t have asked for a better start. But, obviously, they’re first in the conference for a reason, and we’re going to expect to push on Friday, but we’re going to come in tomorrow, go over the tape, have a game plan for Friday, and just keep the momentum going.”
“Reset, recover, learn, get better and then we got another crack at these guys,” McIlvane reiterated.
Wednesday’s victory off-set a 4-0 win by Bakersfield over Henderson to keep the Condors 12 standings points ahead of the Gulls for the division’s last playoff berth. The Gulls did gain two points on Abbotsford (5-3 loss to Ontario) and Calgary (3-2 loss to Tucson).
Coachella Valley continues to lead the division with 74 points, followed by Colorado with 69 points, Tucson with 67 points, Ontario and Calgary with 64 points each, Abbotsford with 62 points, Bakersfield with 60 points and Henderson with 52 points.
The Gulls are now four points behind the eighth-place Silver Knights and four points ahead of last place San Jose.
Can the Gulls spread their wings again on Friday?
Wednesday’s game doubled as Disability Awareness Night
Photos by Phillip Brents
Gulls captain Chase De Leo, left, and Coachella Valley captain Max McCormick draw in a ceremonial face-off to spotlight the San Diego Gulls Special Team. Photo by Phillip Brents
The San Diego Ducks Sled Hockey Team showcased members of all ages and disability levels in a full-contact in-game demonstration.
