When CIF-Metro Conference roller hockey coaches convene Thursday to seed this year’s Don Cerone Memorial/Kiwanis Cup playoff bracket, the numbers will speak for themselves.
The Eastlake Titans finished a history-making season as the 17-team conference’s only unbeaten team at 23-0.
The top-ranked Rancho Bernardo Broncos carried an unblemished 17-0 record into Wednesday’s regular season finale at the Escondido Sports Center before suffering their first loss of the season, 4-3, in overtime to North County League rival (and defending Kiwanis Cup champion) Westview to finish the season with a 17-1 record.
The high-flying Scripps Ranch Falcons finished 15-2 in North County League play as that league’s second-place finisher, 16-2 overall.
The Westview Wolverines finished in third place in the North County League standings with a 12-5 record, 13-5 overall.
Cathedral Catholic finished in fourth place in the North County League standings with a 7-10 record, 7-11 overall.
Second-year Patrick Henry set a school record with its 7-13 overall record (5-13 in North County League play). The Patriots finished behind the Dons in the league standings but managed to defeat Cathedral Catholic twice this season.
Escondido Charter and Poway brought up the rear in this season’s North County League standings, with the White Tigers (3-15 in league, 5-13 overall) capturing sixth place and Poway (1-16 in league, 3-16 overall) finishing seventh in league.
Poway does enter the playoffs with a pair of non-league wins over Sweetwater district teams, including a key win over Hilltop, the second-place finisher in the Mesa League standings.
Clash of the Titans
Eastlake sped to its 23-0 regular season finish by picking up a pair of Mesa League victories against Bonita Vista on Monday and Otay Ranch on Tuesday at the Castle Park High School outdoor rink.
Eastlake kept Bonita Vista winless in league play with a 9-1 victory while the Titans tamed the archrival Mustangs 7-2.
Super sophomore Braden Mayer collected four goals and one assist in Monday’s win while Luke Killeen added four points (three goals, one assist).
Mayer had five goals and one assist in Tuesday’s rivalry matchup. Sean Devaney scored both goals for Otay Ranch, which slid to fourth place in the league standings with the loss.
Eastlake finished 12-0 in league play; Bonita Vista finished 0-12.
Killeen won the Sweetwater district scoring title with 93 points (69 goals, 24 assists). Teammate Will Hamilton finished second with 78 points (50 goals, 28 assists) while Mayer, who missed a number of games due to ice hockey conflicts, finished third in the district scoring table with 77 points (50 goals, 27 assists).
Devaney finished fifth in district scoring with 63 points (50 goals, 13 assists).
Five players from Sweetwater district teams finished with 50 or more goals.
Hilltop’s Trevor Fune racked up 58 goals and 62 points to finish with the second-most goals and the sixth-most points.
Almost perfect
Rancho Bernardo improved to 17-0 on the season after defeating Cathedral Catholic 9-1, in a North County League game on Monday.
Ike Frankel scored four goals to lead Rancho Bernardo while Alex Pang scored twice. Ethan Shute stopped nine of 10 shots to post the goaltender victory.
Scripps Ranch, meanwhile, secured second place in the North County League standings with a 6-3 win over Westview on Monday and a 7-2 win over Cathedral Catholic on Wednesday. Matthew Gauthier leads the Falcons (15-2 in league, 16-2 overall) in scoring with 110 points (74 goals, 36 assists). Cody Ayers ranks second on the team with 58 points (23 goals, 35 assists).
Rancho Bernardo defeated Scripps Ranch, 9-7, on Feb. 7 to take a big step toward securing this year’s league championship. The Broncos scored five goals in the third period to post yet another come-from-behind victory.
Frankel led RB with six goals while goaltender Ethan Shute stopped 19 of 26 shots to help the Broncos improve to 15-0.
Gauthier tallied three goals and two assists in the loss for the Falcons. Gauthier closed out regular season play with four goals and four assists in an 11-3 win over Poway on Feb. 8, three goals and one assist in Monday’s win over Westview and three goals and two assists in Wednesday’s victory against Cathedral Catholic.
Rancho Bernardo improved to 16-0 after rolling past Cathedral Catholic, 12-5, in a make-up game on Feb. 8. Nik Thomas scored four goals while Kiril Yampolsky had a hat trick to lead the league leaders. Jakob Ogan recorded the goaltender victory with seven saves on 12 shots faced.
Frankel led Rancho Bernardo with four goals in an 11-1 win over Poway on Feb. 5 while Thomas and Pang each scored three goals. Ogan made 11 saves on 12 shots to pick up the goaltender win in that game.
Rancho Bernardo is expected to receive the No. 1 seed in the upcoming playoffs. Eastlake, which set what is believed to be a record for most regular season wins in conference history, is hoping to crack the top four seeds and receive a first-round bye.
Scripps Ranch finished 22-0 while Rancho Bernardo finished 20-0 to each roll to Kiwanis Cup championships in their respective club histories.
Hilltop finished in second place in the Mesa League standings, followed by Castle Park (third place) and Otay Ranch (fourth place). Chula Vista won this year’s South Bay League championship to secure a playoff berth, joining Rancho Bernardo and Eastlake, as automatic playoff qualifiers.
The remainder of the 12-team field will be selected on an at-large basis at Thursday’s playoff pairings meeting.
Sudden victory
Rancho Bernardo ended regular season play 17-1 overall (16-1 in North County League play) after being stunned in overtime by the Wolverines.
Westview led 2-0 on second period goals by Tyler Lee and Lyushen Loshak. The Broncos got one back on a goal by Frankel to trail 2-1 entering the final period.
Rancho Bernardo tied the game, 2-2, on a goal by Thomas with 5:44 to play in regulation. The Wolverines went up, 3-2, when Loshak scored his second goal of the game with 2:07 left.
Thomas, RB’s assistant captain, scored two goals in the game; his last goal with 2.6 seconds left pushed the game to overtime. However, Westview scored at 2:34 of the extra period to end the game.
Lee notched the game-winner to thwart the Broncos’ bid for an undefeated regular season.
Shute stopped 17 of 19 shots and Ogan stopped six of eight shots in the loss for RB on Senior Night.
“So much to say as this season has just gone by so fast,” RB coach Joey Gelsomino said. “It was a whirlwind of emotions for our final regular season game. Our last two weeks were filled with great games against great teams. Ending our season with a loss in overtime isn’t easy but Westview is a great team. They earned that victory.
“Right now we’ll settle with a few practices and gear up for our first playoff game. It’s one game at a time. We’re hoping to play three games (in the playoffs) with that third being the championship game. Good luck to all the playoff teams.”
Westview coach Ron Smith said his team has been looking for the right stuff throughout the season. Could the Wolverines have finally found it at the right time of the season?
“Last night’s game a battle,” Smith explained. “The Rancho Bernardo team is so disciplined and their goalies are their stronghold. We’re looking forward to some tough competition in upcoming playoffs.”
Go green
The Hilltop Lancers finished regular season play on a rush with a five-game winning streak to secure second place in the Mesa League standings – and the No. 9 seed in the upcoming Kiwanis Cup playoffs.
The Lancers started their run to the playoffs by defeating longtime rival Bonita Vista, 9-4, in a Mesa League contest on Feb. 6. Trevor Fune led Hilltop with six goals while Kristen Lambertson chalked up five points on three goals and two assists.
It was back to the playing court on Feb. 8 as the Lancers blanked South Bay League champion Chula Vista, 6-0, in a non-league game. Fune once again led the offensive assault for Hilltop with four goals while Isaiah Macias and Alexis Samaniego each chipped in with one goal.
The Lancers topped Southwest, 11-1, in another non-league game on Feb. 9 as Fune scored four goals and Lambertson collected four points on one goal and three assists. Macias and Nic Sandoval each potted two goals while Jacinto Montalvan had one goal and one assist.
Hilltop save its best for last by capturing key Mesa League showdowns against the Castle Park Trojans and Otay Ranch Mustangs to face off the final week of regular season play.
The Lancers tipped the Mustangs, 8-7, on a goal by Lambertson with 37.3 seconds to play to snap a 7-7 tie. Otay Ranch led 7-5 on Paul Chavez’s hat trick goal but Hilltop rallied to tie the game on ensuing goals by Lambertson (7-6) and Fune (7-7).
The contest went down to the wire as Lancer netminder Victor Guzman stopped a final shot by Otay Ranch at the buzzer.
The teams skated to a 2-2 tie through the opening period with Chavez and Sean Devaney each scoring goals for the Mustangs and Lambertson and Skylar Garces each scoring goals for Hilltop.
The Lancers zipped in front 5-2 before Otay Ranch caught fire by scoring five unanswered goals to slip in front 7-5. The momentum then swung back to the Lancers, who finished the game with three unanswered goals.
Fune topped Hilltop in the game with three goals and two assists while Lambertson contributed three goals and one assist.
Sean Devaney and Chavez each finished with three goals and one assist to pace the Mustangs in the loss.
Second place was on the line when the Lancers and Trojans met on Feb. 13 in the final regular season game for each team. The game was hotly contested, with Hilltop holding a 4-3 lead late in the third period.
Fune was awarded a penalty shot after a Castle Park player threw his stick at the puck while Fune was on a breakaway. Fune went top shelf on the penalty shot with 4:45 left in the third period to boost the Lancers to a 5-3 lead.
Fune then scored an insurance goal with 3:37 to play to make it 6-3 and Lambertson added a goal with 2:30 to play to increase the Hilltop lead to 7-3. Martin Mari closed out scoring in the game for Castle Park with 1:15 to play.
Fune finished the game with four goals. Mari had two goals — a figure matched by teammate Eleazar Cruz.
Fune led the Lancers in season scoring with 58 goals and 62 points. Lambertson ranked second in team scoring with 16 goals and 29 points — tops among female scorers in the conference.
Baron pride
Bonita Vista closed out its season with wins in two of its last three games to complete a perfect 7-0 showing against teams from the South Bay League in 2017-18.
The team blossomed the second half of the season, especially with increased support from Anna Custodio, Bo Santos and goaltender Ashley Massarene.
Custodio became a defensive anchor while Santos became an offensive threat to complement the continued strong play of Nick Stark. Massarene played her best as the season wore on. She provided a highlight reel of superlative saves – 37, to be exact – in a 9-1 Mesa League loss to Eastlake on Feb. 12.
She made a season high 42 saves in a Jan. 31 matchup against Eastlake.
The Barons topped Southwest, 6-1, on Feb. 13 to finish regular season play. Stark led the winning effort with three goals and one assist while Santos contributed two goal and one assist. Custodio chipped in with one goal.
Bonita Vista defeated Sweetwater, 5-0, in a non-league make-up game on Feb. 10. Santos led the Barons in scoring with three goals and one assist while Stark added three points on one goal and two assists. Massarene again chipped in with one goal.
Santos and Custodio showcased their scoring prowess in a 9-1 non-league victory against San Ysidro on Jan. 25. Santos scored five goals while Custodio scored four goals.
Stark, an experienced ice hockey player, led the Barons in season scoring with 31 goals and 41 points. Santos ranked second in team scoring with 25 goals and 31 points. Custodio ranked third with 12 goals and 15 points.
Patriot games
Patrick Henry closed out its second season of regular season conference play by recording its school record seventh win after dealing first-year San Ysidro a 6-1 non-league defeat Feb. 13 at the Castle Park High School outdoor rink.
Six different players scored for the Patriots: Zach Thurman, Andrew Ingalls, Kervin Klu, John Miller, Brett Miller and Chris Stagner. The goals were the first of the season for Thurman, Ingalls, Klu, Stagner and Brett Miller.
Thurman scored the lone goal in the first period to give Patrick Henry a 1-0 lead. The Patriots tacked on three more goals in the second period, including a shorthanded goal by Klu and a power play goal by Ingalls, to lead 4-0.
San Ysidro’s Jake Curtis scored a shorthanded goal at the start of the third period to make it a 4-1 game. But Patrick Henry added two more goals, including a power play goal by Stagner, to end the game with a five-goal margin of victory.
Josh Mitchell allowed one goal in picking up the goaltender victory.
The game was perhaps the most competitive of the season for San Ysidro, which closed out its inaugural roller hockey season with a 0-21 record.
It was also quite an event for the Patriots, as teammates cheered and banged their sticks on the sideboards each time a member of the team scored his milestone first goal of the season.
Patrick Henry head coach Chuck Russell called his team “vastly improved” at the start of the season, and the Patriots lived up to that billing by season’s end.
Patrick Henry finished sixth in the North County League standings and posted two wins over longtime power Cathedral Catholic during league play.
“In our second season, we are vastly improved largely due to more kids coming out to the team,” Russell said. “We had some success last year and the kids at Patrick Henry took notice and came out to have fun whiling learning a great sport at the same time. We went from seven last year to 16 this year.”
Russell called the regular season finale a great matchup for both teams concerned.
“It was great to play a team like San Ysidro – we were that first-year team last year,” the PHHS coach explained. “They’re carrying the torch that we carried last year.”
The Patriots expect to be even more improved next season. The team’s top scorers this season — Matt Voegel and Matt Russell — are both juniors.
“We’ve improved a lot from last year,” Matt Russell said. “All of our new guys helped out a lot this season.”
Voegel topped Patrick Henry in regular season scoring with 39 goals and 12 assists; Matt Russell ranked second in team scoring with 29 goals and 14 assists. Junior Ruben Allen finished third with 14 goals and seven assists while senior Clint Allen was fourth with seven goals and six assists.
Tuesday’s win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Patriots, who lost in overtime to Escondido Charter, 7-6, on Feb. 12 after dropping one-goal match-ups to both Poway (7-4 on Feb. 7) and Escondido Charter (7-6 on Feb. 8) in preceding games.
“We didn’t finish as strong as we’d have liked but we hope to take care of that in the playoffs,” the elder Russell noted.
Cougar country
Despite failing to win a game in its inaugural season, the first-year San Ysidro program remained a winner in the eyes of rival coaches and players in the 17-team conference.
Enthusiasm — as well as roster numbers — remained high on the fledgling team.
“I’m really proud of the team,” veteran head coach Adrian Rodriguez stated. “Three months ago, no one person knew how to skate. For going from not knowing how to skate and not knowing hockey, they improved 100 percent. They came a long way.”
The Cougars, who lost their opening two games of the season by scores of 11-0 and 7-0, seemed to get their skating legs going after the winter break. Their most competitive games in South Bay League play proved to be against the Sweetwater Red Devils, the team immediately ahead of them in the standings.
The Cougars lost the initial encounter 2-0 and dropped 4-0 decisions in the teams’ final two league matchups.
“It was a lot more fun knowing that we were more experienced than we were at the beginning of the season,” noted Curtis, a track and field standout. “We have a lot more control. We’re not falling down as much. We’ve all gotten better. We still make mistakes but now we know how to correct them.”
“We all didn’t know what to expect playing hockey,” said Navarro, who previously competed on the school’s swim and water polo teams. “Now that we do, we all have fallen in love with the sport. We want to see more people come out to support us, so the team can grow.”
Goaltenders Mariano Mercado and Chris Garcia were the biggest surprise on the first-year squad. Both faced a ton of shots; both excelled.
While the team’s offense had yet to find a steady rhythm, the team’s netminders were steady at the back.
The Cougars lose three seniors off this year’s history-making team: Navarro, Curtis and Luciana Mercado.
Navarro and Curtis depart after making some history of their own by scoring the team’s first and second goals in school history.
Mesa League Standings
Final Regular Season
(Through Feb. 13)
League/Overall
Eastlake Titans 12-0, 23-0
Hilltop Lancers 7-5, 15-8
Castle Park Trojans 6-6, 8-7
Otay Ranch Mustangs 5-7, 13-10
Bonita Vista Barons 0-12, 7-16
South Bay League Standings
Final Regular Season
(Through Feb. 13)
League/Overall
Chula Vista Spartans 10-1, 12-9
Southwest Raiders 7-4, 7-12
Mar Vista Mariners 6-5, 9-13
Sweetwater Red Devils 5-6, 5-12
San Ysidro Cougars 0-12, 0-21
Saturday, Feb. 10
Bonita Vista 5, Sweetwater 0
Monday, Feb. 12
Hilltop 8, Otay Ranch 7
Eastlake 9, Bonita Vista 1
Chula Vista 4, Mar Vista 3
Tuesday, Feb. 13
Hilltop 7, Castle Park 4
Eastlake 7, Otay Ranch 2
Bonita Vista 6, Southwest 1
Patrick Henry 6, San Ysidro 1
Scoring Leaders/Sweetwater District Schools
Final Regular Season
(Through Feb. 13)
Luke Killeen (Eastlake) 69 goals, 24 assists – 93 points
Will Hamilton (Eastlake) 50 goals, 28 assists -78 points
Braden Mayer (Eastlake) 50 goals, 27 assists – 77 points
Paul Chavez (Otay Ranch) 46 goals, 19 assists – 65 points
Sean Devaney (Otay Ranch) 50 goals, 13 assists – 63 points
Trevor Fune (Hilltop) 58 goals, 4 assists – 62 points
Martin Mari (Castle Park) 40 goals, 4 assists – 44 points
Nick Stark (Bonita Vista) 31 goals, 10 assists – 41 points
Lucio Gutierrez (Chula Vista) 30 goals, 10 assists – 40 points
Eleazar Cruz (Castle Park) 32 goals, 7 assists – 39 points
Jake Powell (Eastlake) 22 goals, 13 assists – 35 points
Bo Santos (Bonita Vista) 25 goals, 6 assists – 31 points
Kristen Lambertson (Hilltop) 16 goals, 13 assists – 29 points
Kayleigh Andrew (Southwest) 26 goals, 2 assists – 28 points
Bryan Suarez (Mar Vista) 22 goals, 3 assists – 25 points
Kevin Eagles (Eastlake) 16 goals, 5 assists – 21 points
Adrian Hernandez (Chula Vista) 16 goals, 5 assists – 21 points
Casey Prenatt (Otay Ranch) 15 goals, 6 assists – 21 points
Van Brown (Mar Vista) 18 goals, 2 assists – 20 points
Jose Lopez (Sweetwater) 13 goals, 6 assists – 19 points
Isaac Suarez (Mar Vista) 15 goals, 3 assists -18 points
Jacinto Montalvan (Hilltop) 14 goals, 4 assists – 18 points
Ryan Strodtman (Otay Ranch) 13 goals, 3 assists – 16 points
Anna Custodio (Bonita Vista) 12 goals, 3 assists – 15 points
Jonathan McCormick (Eastlake) 12 goals, 4 assists – 14 points
Isaiah Macias (Hilltop) 8 goals, 4 assists – 12 points
David Segura (Sweetwater) 11 goals, 0 assists – 11 points
Jared Fuentes (Castle Park) 8 goals, 3 assists – 11 points
Michael Munoz (Mar Vista) 7 goals, 4 assists – 11 points
Skylar Garces (Hilltop) 7 goals, 3 assists – 10 points
Marco Macias (Eastlake) 6 goals, 4 assists – 10 points
Isaiah Pelayo (Chula Vista) 6 goals, 3 assists – 9 points
Koa Balajadia (Otay Ranch) 8 goals, 0 assists – 8 points
Donovan Lazo (Otay Ranch) 6 goals, 2 assists – 8 points
Percilla Mayer (Eastlake) 4 goals, 4 assists – 8 points
Jesus Gonzalez (Castle Park) 4 goals, 4 assists – 8 points
Zyrel Dimalanta (Sweetwater) 2 goals, 6 assists – 8 points
Sebastian Silva (Otay Ranch) 7 goals, 0 assists – 7 points
Adam Yoshinaga (Mar Vista) 5 goals, 2 assists – 7 points
Cesar Sandoval (Sweetwater) 4 goals, 3 assists – 7 points
Justin Sanchez (Hilltop) 2 goals, 4 assists – 6 points
Ayden Mudd (Bonita Vista) 2 goals, 4 assists – 6 points
Patrick Henry Patriots Scoring Leaders
Regular Season
Matt Voegel 39 goals, 12 assists
Matt Russell 29 goals, 14 assists
Ruben Allen 14 goals, 7 assists
Clint Allen 7 goals, 6 assists
Tyler Daniel 5 goals, 6 assists
Cameron Elswick 2 goals, 7 assists
John Miller 4 goals, 2 assists
Eric Tran 1 goal, 3 assists
Brett Miller 1 goal, 2 assists
Zach Thurman 1 goal, 1 assist
Chris Stagner 1 goal
Kervin Klu 1 goal
Andrew Ingalls 1 goal
Aiden Elswick 1 assist
Aidan Rion 1 assist
North County League Standings
Final Regular Season
(Through Feb. 14)
League/Overall
Rancho Bernardo Broncos 16-1, 17-1
Scripps Ranch Falcons 15-2, 16-2
Westview Wolverines 12-5, 13-5
Cathedral Catholic Dons 7-10, 7-11
Patrick Henry Patriots 5-13, 7-13
Escondido White Tigers 5-13, 7-13
Poway Titans 1-16, 3-16
