Sweetwater Union High School District teams faced off the 2017-18 CIF-Metro Conference roller hockey season Thursday evening, Nov. 30, at the Castle Park High School outdoor rink.
Two Mesa League games took place. In the opener, the defending league champion Eastlake Titans blanked the Bonita Vista Barons, 14-0, while the Otay Ranch Mustangs skated past the Hilltop Lancers by a score of 11-2 in the nightcap.
The opening game of the season for Sweetwater district teams featured a battle of female goaltenders in the coed sport: Aryn Gregory for Eastlake and Ashley Massarene for Bonita Vista.
Both netminders are returners and thus fairly experienced.
Massarene saw the brunt of the action as the Titans let loose their offense early and often.
Will Hamilton scored the first goal of the season for Sweetwater district teams, assisted by Luke Killeen.
Killeen scored Eastlake’s next two goals before last season’s scoring wiz Braden Mayer ripped off a natural hat trick to propel the Titans to a 6-0 advantage.
Eastlake scored three shorthanded goals in the game, including a pair while killing one penalty in the second period.
Scoring leaders included Killeen and Mayer, each with four goals and two assists, and Hamilton with three goals and one assist. Newcomer Kevin Eagles scored twice while Percilla Mayer notched one goal and Jake Powell contributed one assist.
New Eastlake head coach Richard Haislip didn’t have to wait long to pick up his first win with the team.
The Titans have 11 returners on their 13-person roster and will be looking to extend last season’s success into the new season.
“They had a great season last year and have a good program,” Haislip said. “We’re looking on being successful this year.”
Bonita Vista fielded six players for Thursday’s season opener. Key returners include Stark, Massarene and Anna Custodio.
“I tell the kids to go out and play hard — it’s about effort and to make sure they have some fun,” explained veteran BVHS head coach Keith Quigley, who is entering his 20th season coaching the Barons. “It doesn’t matter who we play, whether it’s Eastlake or Southwest or the New York Rangers.”
Horse power
Otay Ranch opened up an early 4-0 lead and extended it to 11-1 before the Lancers could score their second goal late in the final period.
Hilltop gained momentum as the game developed but had difficulty beating Mustang netminder J.T. Santiago, whose reactions were cat-like at times. Lancer goaltender Jacob Lopez also was kept busy and responded with numerous solid stops.
Scoring leaders for Otay Ranch included Sean Devaney with five goals and two assists, Donovan Lazo with two goals, Paul Chavez and Casey Prenatt with one goal and one assist each and Ryan Strodtman and Sebastian Silva each with one goal.
Hilltop received a goal and assist from Trevor Fune while Steven Montalvan scored once.
“It’s going to be another challenging season,” ORHS head coach John King noted after the game. “Eastlake looks like they’re going to be our main competition for the league banner, not taking anything away from the other teams.”
Games continue Friday (Dec. 1) at the Castle Park High School roller rink, starting at 4:30 p.m.
Mesa League Standings
(Through Nov. 30)
Eastlake Titans 1-0
Otay Ranch Mustangs 1-0
Castle Park Trojans 0-0
Bonita Vista Barons 0-1
Hilltop Lancers 0-1
Mesa League Scoring Leaders
Sean Devaney (Otay Ranch) 5 goals, 2 assists – 7 points
Luke Killeen (Eastlake) 4 goals, 2 assists- 6 points
Braden Mayer (Eastlake) 4 goals, 2 assist – 6 points
Will Hamilton (Eastlake) 3 goals, 1 assist – 4 points
Kevin Eagles (Eastlake) 2 goals, 0 assist – 2 points
Donovan Lazo (Otay Ranch) 2 goals, 0 assist – 2 points
Paul Chavez (Otay Ranch) 1 goal, 1 assist – 2 points
Casey Prenatt (Otay Ranch) 1 goal, 1 assist – 2 points
Percilla Mayer (Eastlake) 1 goal, 0 assist – 1 point
Ryan Strodtman (Otay Ranch) 1 goal, 0 assist – 1 point
Sebastian Silva (Otay Ranch) 1 goal, 0 assist – 1 point
Jake Powell (Eastlake) 0 goals, 1 assist – 1point
