Spartans down Raiders, 8-0, roll league record to 8-1

While the Eastlake High School roller hockey team continues to chase a perfect season, the Chula Vista High School Spartans remain near perfect in South Bay League play.

“It’s been a fun season,” Gutierrez said. “We definitely couldn’t have done it without everyone on the team. It’s definitely not a one man job.”

Adrian Hernandez scored three goals in Friday’s game while J.P. Ayonkue tallied once. Sylvia Barba and Carlos Espino each were credited with one assist.

Goaltender Gio Cimmino remained tough to crack by recording the shutout win.

“Our most improved player is Isaiah Pelayo,” Gutierrez noted. “Definitely, we couldn’t have done what we have without Gio.”

It was just the third game for Espino, a sophomore, who joined the school’s roller hockey team from the wrestling team. Espino caught interest in roller hockey after watching one of the Spartans’ inline games.

“Lucio is my friend, I went to see one of the games and I wanted to try it,” Espino said. “I liked roller hockey. I got cleared and the next day I went through the baby steps of learning how to skate.”

Espino, who played lacrosse as a freshman, used his stick for balance in his first trip to the playing court.

“I had some anxiety about keeping my balance,” he admitted. “But I blocked a pass, so I figured I contributed to the team.”

This is the second year for Gutierrez on the school’s roller hockey team; he also competes for the school’s cross country and track and field teams.

“It’s fun skating,” he said. “I show up two hours before practice to shoot on the fence,” he said.

Practice makes perfect, of course.

Southwest, which played without any substitutions, saw its league record dip to 5-4 and its overall record drop to 6-9.

In games Friday (Feb. 2) at the CPHS rink:

First year San Ysidro remained winless on the season at 0-10 in league play, 0-18 overall.

But Koa Balajadia rescued the Mustangs with the game-winner with 2:18 left in overtime, assisted by Donovan Lazo.

“We were missing some of our top players for this game, so the team had to step up offensively without Sean Devaney, our top offensive player, and had to step up defensively without Paul Chavez, one of our top defensive players,” Otay Ranch coach John King explained. “We found a way to win. The kids played hard; they gave it all for the team.

“Their goalie (Alex Rosales) played very, very well for them.”

Jose Lopez scored Sweetwater’s second goal to make it a 2-1 game in the third period. Prenatt scored his second goal of the game early in the third period to put Otay Ranch ahead 3-1 on the scoreboard.

Segura’s game-tying goal came with 1:35 left in the game as he intercepted an errant pass by the Otay Ranch goaltender and converted on the defensive turnover.

Otay Ranch improved to 12-6 overall with the non-league win while Sweetwater fell to 3-9 overall with the loss.

The Westview High School roller hockey team suffered through some adverse conditions during the 2016-17 regular season before gathering all the pieces of the puzzle together to slash its way to last season’s Don Cerone Memorial/Kiwanis Cup championship title.

The Wolverines appear to be coming around at the right time of the season again in 2017-18.

“We’re still figuring things out,” WVHS head coach Ron Smith said following Wednesday’s 12-1 non-league win over the Mar Vista Mariners at the Castle Park High School outdoor rink in Chula Vista. “We want to finish strong.”

The Jan. 31 win over the Mariners, who are vying for this year’s South Bay League championship, raised Westview’s season record to 9-4. The Wolverines are 8-4 in North County League play with all four losses to teams to teams ranked higher in the league standings.

Westview has lost in overtime and in an overtime shootout to the Scripps Ranch Falcons and 5-0 and 7-2 to the top-ranked Rancho Bernardo Broncos.

Captain Laurent Lee paced the Wolverines in scoring in Wednesday’s victory with three goals and four assists.

Greg Oleynichenko and Kyle Bucholtz each collected two goals and two assists while Christopher Ritchie added two goals and one assist.

Tyler Lee and Jason Gyokery each contributed one goal and one assist while Kelso Cook rounded out the Westview attack with one goal.

The Wolverines, who got off to a 4-0 first-period lead and led 9-1 through two periods, played a taunt puck possession game, attacking down the wings.

Smith said goaltending may be the deciding factor in which team makes a championship run this season.

“It comes down to good goaltending, and which teams can group themselves around a good goaltender,” Smith noted. “That will lead the team to the promised land.”

Westview improved to 9-4 in league play, 10-4 overall, following Thursday’s 16-1 win over Poway as Laurent Lee collected three goals and four assists.

The Broncos defeated the Patrick Henry Patriots, 8-1, on Wednesday and downed the Escondido Charter White Tigers, 6-2, on Thursday.

Assistant captain Niklas Thomas scored four goals and Aydon Baldwin added two more goals to lead RB in Wednesday’s game while goaltender Ethan Shute stopped 14 of 15 shots to post the win.

The Broncos got off to a slow start in Thursday’s game but a four-goal second period spurt helped power the league leaders to the victory.

Captain Miles Cook and Thomas each scored two goals to keep RBHS undefeated while goaltender Jakob Ogan, who let in an early goal, came back strong to stop 15 of 17 shots for the win.

Scripps Ranch also swept its league games on Wednesday and Thursday to remain one game back in the loss column in the league standings. The Falcons sped past Escondido Charter, 16-4, on Wednesday and came out on top, 12-11, in a high scoring matchup against Patrick Henry on Thursday.

Matthew Gauthier (six goals, two assists) and Cody Ayers (four goals, four assists) led all scorers on the court in Wednesday’s game with eight points apiece. Aaron Lowry contributed two goals and one assist while Ryan Makami collected one goal and one assist. Wesley Rim and Leo Gaffrey each scored one goal.

Bryce Mendoza lead Escondido Charter with three goals and one assist.

Scripps Ranch reeled off eight unanswered goals after the White Tigers netted the game’s opening goal. The Falcons ripped off six consecutive goals from the middle of the second period to the middle of the third period to take a 14-2 lead.

Thursday’s game was more of a back-and-forth contest, with seven lead changes. Patrick Henry held an early 2-1 lead before Scripps Ranch came back to edge in front 3-2. The Patriots tied the game 3-3 before the Falcons flew in front 6-3.

Patrick Henry made it 6-5 and then went ahead 8-7 early in the third period. Scripps Ranch rallied to go in front 9-8 before the Patriots stormed back to lead 10-9.

The teams combined to score four goals in the game’s final 3:51 — three of them by the Falcons.

Scripps Ranch powered in front 12-10 on the strength of three consecutive goals in 3:03. Patrick Henry potted the game’s final goal with nine seconds to play to cap the whirlwind 23-goal contest.

Matt Gauthier (five goals, three assists) and Rim (four goals, two assists) spearheaded the Falcons’ offensive attack.

Matt Russell (five goals, two assists) and Matt Voegel (four goals, two assists) led the charge for the Patriots.

Lowry added three goals to round out the Scripps Ranch scoring.

The Falcons (12-1 in league play, 13-1 overall) remained in second place in the North County League standings following Thursday’s wild victory.