With nighttime lows now dipping into the 30s, it’s hockey weather and local coed inline teams have answered the call.
CIF-Metro Conference play within the Sweetwater district faced off Tuesday evening at the outdoor rink at Castle Park High School. Sure enough, temperatures began to plummet after the puck drop on the first game of the double-header pitting Bonita Vista and Sweetwater and Hilltop and Castle Park.
Both games ended in shutouts: Bonita Vista held Sweetwater without in shot in claiming an 11-0 victory while Hilltop – braced by six goals and one assist from sophomore Aariel Nichols – blanked Castle Park by a score of 9-0.
Bonita Vista is the top returning team in the district from last season after posting a 17-0 record to face off play en route to a fourth-place finish in the Kiwanis Cup playoffs.
Hilltop also was a playoff qualifier last season.
The Barons return quite a bit of last season’s highly successful team minus a pair of top scorers in Maxwell Anderson (graduated to UCLA) and Cam Belyk (playing prep school ice hockey with the Middlesex Black Bears in Byfield, Mass.).
Still, Bonita Vista looked potent in its debut against a Sweetwater team that did not play last season.
Top returners include junior Andrew Madrigal, junior goaltender Eliana Santos, senior Noah Burke, sophomore Jacob Hunter, senior Brady Murphy and sophomore Damian Nunes. Freshman Matthew Metcalfe is the team’s impact newcomer.
Metcalfe paced the Barons attack with three goals and one assist, followed by Hunter and senior Daniel Lule with three points on a goal and two assists, Madrigal and Burke with two goals apiece, junior Catherine Wunderly with a goal and assist and single goals from Murphy, junior Tonantzin Murillo and junior Amelie Juneau.
“We’re hoping to do good things again this season,” head coach Keith Quigley said. “We have a solid core of returners including our goalie Eliana Santos and a nice mix of some new players. We’d like to battle again for the Mesa League title and get a playoff berth. I’m lucky enough again to have a solid group of kids who are great people on and off the rink.”
Sweetwater goaltender Twiestah Orbita made several spectacular saves in her regular season debut by stretching skate to skate across the goal line.
“We have an entirely new team with no hockey experience,” SuHi coach Mike Morales said. “Our season outlook is always promising, and we look forward to competing and getting better as the season progresses. Our team expectation is to continuously get better and better and compete for a league championship. .”
Morales lists freshman Natsumi Cruz as a potential all-league player for the Red Devils.
Nichols, a travel ice hockey player, returns as likely the top female player in the district again this season.
She rattled off a natural hat trick in the first period before freshman teammate Ixabella Aceves got into the act with a goal of her own, assisted by Nichols.
Castle Park netminder Alfredo “Sammy” Gonzalez played well but the Lancer offense was just too potent to stop,
Hilltop goaltender Chris Brady had to make several good stops on Lady Trojan Richelle Roldan, the South Bay League girls tennis player of the year? Like Nichols, Roldan is one of the district’s top female roller hockey players.
Senior Moises Bernal finished the season opener with a goal and assist, including a shorthanded goal, while Joshua Ninaja closed out scoring in the game.
Five of Nichols’ six goals were unassisted. She scored on back-to-back breakaways to highlight the Lancers’ goal rush.
It all hung a smile on the face of Hilltop coach Paul Tesner.
“We have 16 players,” he said. “It’s good to have that many with a lot of players coming back with Aariel leading the group,” he said. “She’s helping mentor the younger players. We have seven freshmen and that’s the future of the league.”
