The Bonita Vista High School roller hockey team held its Senior Night on Feb. 3. The Barons honored five seniors: Diego Nunes, Keala Nunes, Viannae Valdez, Alvaro Ruiz and Max Anderson.
All contributed in their own special way to this season’s 14-0 regular season finish. Cousins Diego and Keala Nunes serve as indispensable team captains, fostering togetherness while holding everyone accountable for their actions on the playing court.
Anderson, well, he’s the team’s highest profile ice hockey player. The moment he steps onto the concrete playing surface as the Castle Park High School outdoor rink, its’ immediately apparent he has a special skill set that sets him apart from the average roller hockey player.
Anderson topped Sweetwater district teams in regular season scoring this season, finally gaining the upper hand over San Ysidro’s Alejandro Vargas in the final couple games in the regular season.
Anderson finished with 54 goals and 27 assists for 81 points while Vargas finished with 46 goals and 25 assists for 71 points.
Besides his affinity for putting pucks in the net and dishing off crisp passes to teammates, he also plays extraordinary defense when called to do so against some of the league’s better teams.
His value as a two-way threat makes him a special player.
“Max had an amazing season capturing the scoring title,” BVHS head coach Keith Quigley said. “I can only imagine what he would have done if we were able to play all 20 games. Max is such a solid two-way player. Not only did he score a ton of goals, but I really like that he also had lots of assist.
“He’s been a leader out there, supporting the lesser experienced players with the aim of making the players around him better. I always like to see him work the puck around as to try and get all involved. I can tell in his demeanor that he’s hungry out there this season and wants to do big things with this team. I always tell my team, work hard and support your teammates and Max has definitely been doing that.”
While he may be at the top of the team’s scoring chart, he’s by no means the center of attention.
“Diego and Keala have been great captains the whole season bringing the team together and overall supporting Bonita’s roller hockey program on and off the rink,” Anderson said. “They’re both great leaders and have definitely made the last three years a memorable experience. Al and Viannae as well have played all four years of high school.It’s been a great journey seeing how far the team has come over the last three seasons being number one in the league right now.”
Ice age
As a freshman, Anderson only vaguely knew his school had a roller hockey team because he was still wrapped up playing ice.
That changed his sophomore year when he joined the Barons inline squad. He’s skated on concrete since then.
But he still has ice in his veins.
“I first became interested in playing hockey when my dad introduced me to ice hockey when I was 5,” Anderson recounted. “My dad had played pond hockey as a kid and club hockey at San Diego State. I first learned how to skate and play at SDIA in Mira Mesa.
“I played for the SDIA Oilers for most of my life. I played three years competitively at SDIA for their Pewee A and Bantam A SCAHA team. For my freshman and sophomore years I played for the Poway Hawks Varsity team under the Anaheim Ducks High School Hockey League (ADHSHL).
“Before I played hockey I played flag football in Bonita. Shortly after my dad introduced me to ice hockey, I was reluctant to start hockey at first as I was comfortable playing football but ended up pursuing hockey. From there on out I consistently played hockey.”
And enjoyed all its special elements.
“My favorite thing about hockey has to be the excitement the game provides,” Anderson said.. “Given hockey isn’t an extremely high-scoring game compared to basketball, per say, every goal is extremely valuable. The feeling of scoring or getting an assist in hockey is unparalleled.
“Additionally, laying a big hit or making a great pass entails a similar aura of excitement. All in all, in hockey there are so many opportunities to make big plays and with that comes a great deal of exhilaration.”
Accomplishments on the ice include making it to the SCAHA championship game in the 2017-18 14U-A season (losing in overtime) while placing third in the CAHA playoffs that same season. He collected 10 goals and six assists in 14 games, not including playoffs.
During his freshman season with the Hawks, he was selected to play in the ADHSHL JV all-star game and helped the varsity team advance to the second round of the playoffs.
Playing for his high school roller hockey team has added a “fun” element to his game.
“What I like about playing roller for BVHS is being able to play hockey in a more relaxed setting,” he said. “Having played hockey competitively for a very long time now, it is nice to be able to just play for fun and attempt to score ‘flashy’ goals I otherwise would not go for.”
Anderson said basically all of his ice hockey skills have transferred to roller hockey, whether it be skating, shooting or passing.
“The only skill I would say did not transfer is the physicality of ice hockey,” he said. “However, I feel having been successful in roller the last three seasons has made me more confident in my abilities to make big plays, which has translated over to ice hockey.
“I feel roller hockey, unlike ice hockey, is much more offensively oriented in that there is no offsides, more space — given only four players are on the floor compared to five for ice — and there is no big physical component. Taking this into consideration, in roller scoring is an even greater component of the game relative to ice and you therefore have to be deceptive. Doing things like drop passes, between the leg dekes, or wrap-arounds behind the net are much more common in roller because the defense isn’t as strong. Therefore, creative and unexpected moves or shots are the key to being successful.”
While not necessarily big on size, he remains big on talent.
“Being undersized in ice hockey, my style of play somewhat mimics roller in that I rely on my shooting and stick-handling abilities to get by the defensemen as I cannot overpower them. Lacking a strong physical component of the game I ensure to be much more aware of my surroundings due to the pace of the game being faster and also having to look out for my own safety (getting hit by other players). Lastly, I would say passing is crucial in ice as given the physicality, it is much harder to hold onto the puck for a prolonged period of time compared to roller.”
Anderson has dabbled in cross country and track and field besides roller hockey at BVHS; he’s now embarking on a new sport: lacrosse.
“I just recently stopped running track and I wanted to play some sort of hockey. Given hockey season was already in progress, however, and a very far drive, I opted for a sport similar that I could play at school. Hockey definitely has helped me with passing, catching and shooting as the component of a stick being involved in both sports has made it easier to catch on to. While I have a hockey background, the sports are still very different and I have a lot to learn. I am looking forward to trying a whole new sport at Bonita, though.”
Beyond high school, Anderson is looking forward to making a career for himself.
“Despite not having played ice in about 10 months, I plan on returning to play once roller ends and in college,” he said. “I hope to play competitive club hockey at whatever university I end up at. In regards to college, my top pick is USC where I hope to major in business. I will find out if I am accepted in April.
“I hope to have a career in real estate either working under a brokerage, owning some sort of vacation rental properties, or a mix of both. Whatever university I attend I hope to major in business with an emphasis on real estate.”
BONITA VISTA BARONS CLASS OF 2022
Photos by Phillip Brents
Regular season ends with quadruple header as Barons stay unbeaten
BONITA VISTA TOPS OTAY RANCH 12-1, EASTLAKE 9-3 TO IMPROVE TO 14-0 AS DISTRICT’S TOP TEAM
Sweetwater district roller hockey teams did a quick stop on Monday at the Castle Park High School outdoor rink to finish up regular season play with a rare quadruple-header in advance of this week’s seven-team elimination playoff tournament.
Bonita Vista and Otay Ranch faced off Monday’s four game slate with the Barons claiming their 13th win of the season by a score of 12-1. San Ysidro followed with a 14-0 win over Mar Vista.
The Barons were back on the playing court for a second game that evening as they engaged rival Eastlake. Bonita Vista skated past the Titans, 9-3, to sweep their three regular season games, though the score was closer in each meeting.
Hilltop defeated Castle Park, 12-2, in the finale.
The Barons finished 14-0 with the two wins on Monday.
“It was great to finish out the regular season tonight with big wins against Otay Ranch and Eastlake,” BVHS head coach Keith Quigley said. “Big time proud of this team.
“I was so psyched for these kids that they were able to put together an undefeated regular season. I’ll definitely always remember this season and this team. We’re a tight group … one big hockey family.”
Bonita Vista 12, Otay Ranch 1
District scoring leader Max Anderson collected seven points (six goals, one assist) while Andrew Madrigal tacked on three points (one goal, two assists). Freshman Jacob Hunter scored two goals, while Diego Nunes, Damian Nunes and Cam Belyk both added single goals. Viannae Valdez and Alvaro Ruiz both had two assists while Keala Nunes, Noah Burke and Michelle MacGaffey all contributed one helper.
The Barons piled up a ferocious 72-4 shot advantage as Otay Ranch goaltender Alex Short made a season-high 60 saves. The second period belonged to Short, who turned aside all 25 BV shots he faced in the period. Bonita Vista out-shot the Mustangs 24-0 in the first period, 25-1 in the second period and 23-3 in the third period.
Riley Holt scored the lone goal for Otay Ranch to start the second period to cut the Baron lead to 5-1. Bonita Vista responded by putting seven pucks behind Short in the final period.
The Mustangs’ record dropped to 7-4 on the season while Bonita Vista improved to 13-0.
San Ysidro 14, Mar Vista 0
Alejandro Vargas rocked the playing court with 10 points (six goals, four assists) to fall short in the race for the individual district scoring title. Vargas entered the game 13 points behind Bonita Vista’s Anderson and was only able to close the gap to two points by game’s end. It was a good try, however.
Twin terror Angel Bernal finished the game with five goals and two assists while Grant Faucher scored twice. Ashley Bernal had a goal and assist to elicit cheers from the Cougar rooting section — as well as a cow bell chorus. Vanessa Camacho had one assist for San Ysidro.
The Cougars held a modest 3-0 lead at the end of the first period as Mar Vista goaltender Emily Rodriguez kept her team in the contest with a superb display of netminding. San Ysidro peppered her with too many shots in the second period to score eight goals and take an 11-0 lead. The Cougars closed out the game with three more goals to hike their record to 8-5 to finish third in the league standings behind Bonita Vista and Otay Ranch.
Bonita Vista 9, Eastlake 3
The Barons attacked with abandon during the opening period while piling up a 30-0 shot count and 5-0 lead. Anderson led the BV charge with three goals and two assists while fellow senior Diego Nunes had a goal and assist and freshman Cam Belyk scored once.
Anderson collected his sixth point in the game on the Barons’ sixth goal, a power play tally in the second period, assisted by Damien Nunes.
Eastlake snapped Bonita Vista’s shutout bid on a penalty shot by Titan scoring leader Cash Schreiber with 5:40 remaining in the third period.
The Barons retaliated by scoring three more times — once each by freshman Jacob Hunter, Belyk and Anderson — to take a commanding 9-1 lead.
Eastlake rounded out the scoring on late goals by Schreiber and Andrew Ibarra.
Bonita Vista finished with a tilted 58-6 shot advantage, recording 19 shots in both the second and third periods to six for the Titans. The Barons held a 19-5 edge in shots in the third period as Eastlake was able to mount more offense.
Anderson finished the game with five goals and two assists to hike his regular season total to 81 points — 10 points ahead of San Ysidro’s Vargas for the regular season scoring title. Belyk had two goals and one assist while Diego Nunes had one goal and one assist. Hunter had one goal while Keala Nunes and Damian Nunes both had two assists. Burke and Giovan Espinoza both added an assist.
Anderson had a run at the 2019-20 scoring title before being passed in the final game by Hilltop’s Trevor Fune.
“Max had an amazing season capturing the scoring title,” Quigley said. “I can only imagine what he would have done if we were able to play all 20 games. Max is such a solid two-way player. Not only did he score a ton of goals but I really like that he also had lots of assists.”
Hilltop 12, Castle Park 2
The spirit was willing for the Trojans but freshman sensation Aariel Nichols proved just much to overcome as the Lancers chalked up their third consecutive win after starting the season 0-8.
Nichols racked up six goals and two assists, finishing several breakaways with corner-pickers. Carson Oliver supported his teammate’s offensive rush with one goal and one assist.
Joshua Ninaja entered his name in the scorebook with three goals and one assist while Nathan Ladd-Flores scored twice.
Josh Barreto scored both Castle Park goals. The Trojans tied the game early, 1-1, before Hilltop took a 4-1 lead. Barreto’s second goal trimmed the Lancer lead to 4-2 but Hilltop closed out the game with eight unanswered goals, including three by Nichols.
One of Ninaja’s goals came shorthanded while Nathalie Pena also recorded one assist for the winners.
CP sophomore netminder Sammy Gonzalez did his best but was overwhelmed by Nichols’ speed and pin-point shooting accuracy.
Following the game, the Trojans (1-8) feted their seniors: Barreto, Ricardo Soto, Brisa Solis, Alieen Jijenez and Alexis Delgado.
“The team has progressed tremendously even though the scores might not indicate that,” CPHS head coach Adrian Rodriguez said in praising his team’s effort. “We had low numbers but these seniors kept up with every team. Tired or not, they came out to play to the best of their ability.”
Sweetwater District Standings
Final Regular Season
Bonita Vista Barons 14-0
Otay Ranch Mustangs 7-4
San Ysidro Cougars 8-5
Eastlake Titans 6-5
Hilltop Lancers 3-8
Castle Park Trojans 1-8
Mar Vista Mariners 0-7
