Roller hockey has established itself in the mainstream high school sports lineup within the Sweetwater Union High School District since the puck was first dropped at Chula Vista RollerSkateLand more than two decades ago.
The sport faced off its record-setting 25th season within the Metro Conference with five games Monday at the Castle Park High School outdoor rink.
Ten district teams are competing this season with the return of all nine teams from last season plus the addition of the Chula Vista Spartans to the local lineup.
Fifteen schools fielded roller hockey teams in the Metro Conference last season, including six schools in the North County League based at the Escondido Sports Center.
A shortened season looms for the survivors.
Games are now 30 minutes in length with two 15-minute periods. This allows more games to be played in one scheduled session. Five games were scheduled in each of the three sessions during the first week of play, which also included games on Wednesday and Thursday.
Three leagues remain, though the lineup has been shuffled somewhat.
The Mesa League features four teams: Bonita Vista, Eastlake, Hilltop and Otay Ranch.
Bonita Vista and Eastlake shared last year’s league title.
Three teams populate both the South Bay League and Pacific League playing circuits. Mar Vista, Sweetwater and San Ysidro comprise the South Bay League while Southwest, Castle Park and Chula Vista round out the Pacific League.
Sweetwater and Mar Vista shared last year’s Pacific League championship. With Hilltop’s move to the Mesa League, new champions will be crowned this season in both the South Bay League and Pacific League.
Though opening week was rolled back to after the start of the new year, coaches and players were excited to finally be on the playing court.
“It’s definitely exciting,” said Michael Albright, who takes over as Bonita Vista’s coach. “It’s my first year coaching roller hockey. We have a lot of first-year players. We’re excited. We’ve been working hard. We’re ready to get it going.”
Senior Jacob Hunter got it going with the first two goals of Monday’s opening contest, a 6-1 win over Castle Park. He finished the game with four goals and two assists while freshman Aaron Odvina made an impression with two goals and two assists.
This is Hunter’s fourth year on the team. He is looking for a fourth consecutive league championship.
“It’s been fun seeing a lot of new faces, seeing players develop and win championships,” said Hunter, who finished runner-up in district scoring last season with 38 goals and 52 points to Hilltop wonder woman Aariel Nichols (52 goals, 56 points).
Roller hockey remains a coed sport.
Clara Armenta scored the lone goal for Castle Park to spoil a potential shutout by BV senior goaltender Aryk Winters.
“There’s a lot of hard work invested, but it’s a great payout for the coaches who want to keep it going,” said Chris Kryjewski, who returns behind the CPHS bench. “The whole conference looks competitive. There will be some surprise teams. The leagues are very balanced to the skills of the teams.”
Nichols returns to the rink to bedevil her male counterparts after collecting four goals in an 8-1 season opening win over San Ysidro. She had help with Will Acevez and Brenden Beaver each notching a goal and assist.
“It’s a good start,” Hilltop coach Paul Tesner said. “We had great skates from our new players. We had five freshmen out there. It was a great start.”
Goaltenders Isaac Mendoza and Spencer Harkness, each playing a half, backstopped the Lancers to the win.
Roller hockey is traditionally a high scoring sport and Eastlake rolled out its full arsenal on Monday. Junior Chris Rollbusch led the scoring parade with 10 points on six goals and four assists to take the early district scoring lead. Sidney Jonason and Riley McElroy each chipped in with two goals and one assist while junior Nicholas Battillo scored twice.
Nine players in all picked up either a goal or assist.
“It’s exciting to have a season to play in,” EHS coach Chris Rollbusch Sr. said. “I love seeing these kids having fun from playing hockey. We’re returning three-quarters of the team from last year. We hope to keep our championship season going.”
Southwest opened the season with a pair of 6-0 shutout wins over Sweetwater and Chula Vista. Angelica Cantu notched four goals between the two games while Ryane Bailey had three goals.
Liam Barry, Brian Obrajero, Abel Zavala, Erick Arias and Cassandra Cervantes also scored goals. Prince Corpus assisted on a shorthanded goal by Cantu.
“I’m so proud of the kids, they put in a lot of hard work,” Southwest coach Christopher Alvarez-Malo said.
Metro Conference Records
Southwest 2-0
Bonita Vista 1-0
Eastlake 1-0
Hilltop 1-0
Mar Vista 0-0
Otay Ranch 0-0
Castle Park 0-1
San Ysidro 0-1
Sweetwater 0-1
Chula Vista 0-2
METRO CONFERENCE ROLLER HOCKEY SCOREBOARD – 1/8/2025
In games on Wednesday, Jan, 8, at the Castle Park High School outdoor rink, Castle Park won both of its games to improve to 2-1 on the season, 1-0 in Pacific League play, while both Bonita Vista and Eastlake improved to 2-0 on the season with decisive wins. Mar Vista made its season debut with a 12-0 win over San Ysidro in a South Bay League game.
Top scorers on the evening included Eastlake’s Chris Rollbusch with 12 points (six goals, six assists) and Mar Vista’s Fernando Corona with 10 points (seven goals, three assists). The Bonita Vista tandem of senior Jacob Hunter (three goals, three assists) and freshman Aaron Odvina (hat trick) continued to put the puck in the net.
Rollbusch has notched 22 points in two games (12 goals, 10 assists) while Hunter has seven goals and five assists for 12 points in two games.
Castle Park received three goals each from Caleb Quintero and Iris Miranda in the two-game sweep while Eastlake’s Sid Jonason, Nicholas Battillo and Desi Garcia each collected two goals amd one assist.
Bonita Vista defeated longtime rival Hilltop, 7-0, in a matchup of early season unbeatens. BV goaltender Aryk Winters held Hilltop star Aariel Nichols scoreless in the teams’ key Mesa League pairing.
TEAM SPOTLIGHT: SWEETWATER RED DEVILS
Sweetwater showed improvement from opening night to its second game on Wednesday as Ryan Lopez staked the Red Devils to a -0 lead over Castle Park. The Trojans tied the game, 1-1, at the half and scored the only two goals in the second period to skate off the floor with a 3-1 non-league victory.
Sweetwater was still missing Achilles Tan, a top scorer last year, in the lineup but freshman Phoebe Blas continued to showcase her skating and talent.
The Red Devils tied for last year’s Pacific League championship with Mar Vista. Both teams move to the South Bay League this season.
“I’m hoping to improve on last year’s record and instill the love of hockey into these kids so they want to play the sport beyond high school,” SuHi coach Mike Morales said. “We’ve added some numbers thi season from 15 to 20. Our goal is to be playing better at the end of the season than at the beginning.”
SCORING SUMMARIES:
Castle Park 3, Sweetwater 1
Castle Park scoring: Caleb Quintero 2 goals, Iris Miranda 1 goal, Liani Pichardo 1 assist, Lilith Pelayo 1 assist
Sweetwater goal: Ryan Lopez
Mar Vista 12, San Ysidro 0
Mar Vista scoring: Fernando Corona 7 goals, 3 assists; Marston Malfori 2 goals, 1 assist; Riley Owen 1 goal, 3 assists, Shayla Moreland 1 goal, Raeden Owen 1 goal
San Ysidro scoring: none
Castle Park 5, Chula Vista 0
Castle Park scoring: Iris Miranda 2 goals, 1 assist; Ari Valendia 1 goal, 1 assist; Gabriela Garcia 2 assists; Clara Armenta 1 goal, Caleb Quintero 1 goal
Chula Vista scoring: none
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Eastlake 15, Sothwest 0
Eastlake scoring: Chris Rollbusch 6 goals, 6 assists; Sid Jonason 2 goals, 1 assist; Nicholas Battillo 2 goals, 1 assist; Desi Garcia 2 goals, 1 assist; Riley McElroy 1 goal, 1 assist; Adam Ibarra 1 goal, 1 assist; Sam Chavez 1 goal
Southwest scoring: none
Bonita Vista 7, Hilltop 0
Bonita Vista scoring: Jacob Hunter 3 goals, 3 assists; Aaron Odvina 3 goals
Hilltop scoring: none
Metro Conference Records
Bonita Vista Barons 2-0 (1-0 in league)
Eastlake Titans 2-0
Mar Vista Mariners 1-0 (1-0 in league)
Caste Park Trojans 2-1 (1-0 in league)
Southwest Raiders 2-1 (1-0 in league)
Hilltop Lancers 1-1 (0-1 in league)
Otay Ranch Mustangs 0-0
San Ysidro Cougars 0-2 (0-1 in league)
Sweetwater Red Devils 0-2
Chula Vista Spartans 0-3 (0-2 in league)
METRO CONFERENCE SCOREBOARD – JAN. 9, 2025
In games on Thursday, Jan. 9, at the Castle Park High School outdoor rink:
SOUTHWEST 3, CASTLE PARK 0
Southwest goals: Angelica Cantu 1, Ryane Bailey 1, Brian Obrajero 1.
Castle park goals: none
Note: Southwest improves to 2-0 in Pacific League play, 3-1 overall. Castle Park drops to 2-2 overall, 1-1 in league play
HILLTOP 6, SWEETWATER 3
Hilltop scoring: Aariel Nichols 5 goals, 1 assist; Daniel Escamilla 1 goal
Sweetwater scoring: Ryan Lopez 1 goal, 1 assist; Natsumi Cruz 1 goal; Lisa Amaro 1 goal
Note: Hilltop improves to 2-1 on the season, Sweetwater drops to 0-3
BONITA VISTA 5, MAR VISTA 0
Bonita Vista scoring: Jacob Hunter 4 goals, 1 assist; Aaron Odvina 1 goal, 2 assists
Mar Vista scoring: none
Note: Bonita Vista improves to 3-0 on season. Mar Vista drops to 1-1
EASTLAKE 14, SAN YSIDRO 0
Eastlake scoring: Chris Rollbusch 6 goals, 3 assists; Riley McElroy 3 goals, 2 assists; Sam Chavez 4 assists; Nate Tolentino 1 goal, 2 assists; Nicholas Battillo 1 goal, 1 assist; Adam Ibarra 1 goal, 1 assist; Desi Garcia 1 goal; Jace Ahumada-Morrow 1 goal; Sid Jonason 1 assist; Solana Kitamura 1 assist
San Ysidro scoring: none
Note: Eastlake improves to 3-0 on season with 45-0 scoring differential. San Ysidro drops to 0-3 on season. Chris Rollbusch (EL) leads district scoring with 31 points (18 goals, 13 assists) in three games
MAR VISTA 4, SWEETWATER 0
Mar Vista scoring: Marston Malfori 2 goals, Fernando Corona 2 goals. Richard Scarborough (MV) shutout
Sweetwater scoring: none
Note: Mar Vista improves to 2-1 on season, 2-0 in league play. Sweetwater drops to 0-4 on season
