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Metro Conference Championship Playoffs

Division I

Thursday, Feb. 21, 2002 @ Skate San Diego

Semifinals

The high-scoring Trojans and defending Kiwanis Cup champion Barons skated to a surprising scoreless first-period tie. The strategy was more by design on the part of short-benched South Bay League champion Castle Park. The slow-down tempo worked to their advantage, at least early on. The Trojans drew first blood on a goal 3:10 into the second period, scored by Arturo Garcia and set up by younger brother Richard Garcia. However, Bonita Vista retaliated just 30 seconds later to tie the game when Joey Galeno fed teammate James Arakaki for the equalizing goal. The Barons went up 2-1 with 2:45 to play in the period when Reuben Felizardo converted a pass from Galeno.

Bonita Vista scored the pivotal jump goal (Arakaki from Galeno) in the third period to lead 3-1. But with the game still at a somewhat slow pace, Castle Park got back into the thick of things with back to back unanswered goals to force a 3-3 tie. Richard Garcia, assisted by Je’van Meyers, scored to cut the Trojans’ deficit in half and Meyers then beat BV goaltender Doug Lentz on a close-in shot to deadlock the teams. Felizardo then scored consecutive goals a minute apart to put the Barons ahead 5-3. Meyers scored on a nice wrist shot to bring Castle Park to within one goal at 5-4 with 2:40 to play in regulation but the Barons finally put the game out of reach to secure their defense of the Kiwanis Cup when Galeno scored an unassisted goal with 44 seconds left. Bonita Vista finished the game with a 24-20 advantage in shots.

"Slowing it down was to Castle Park’s advantage. I was telling my guys to pick it up. We had a bench and they didn’t," Baron coach Keith Quigley said. "We played a different game against Eastlake (a 6-3 BV quarterfinal-round win). I’m thrilled that these kids get to play another game. We’re back on Tuesday for the championship game. If these kids give 120 percent, they’ve got a shot." Lentz, who moved from his defensive position into the net for the team’s more challenging games in the regular season, improved to 2-0 in playoff competition with a 3.50 GAA. Said Quigley: "Having that experience in the next with Doug helped. Reuben came through with some goals. He’s been a solid defenseman all year."

Felizardo finished the game with three goals while Galeno had four assists to go with his insurance tally. Arakaki scored twice. Meyers led CP with a pair of goals and an assist.

Third-seeded Bonita Vista improves to 15-3-3; second-seeded Castle Park ends its an otherwise stellar season 15-6-0.

The Torres scored first, on a goal by Nathan Sigmund, in an upset bid but the Falcons came back to lead 2-1 at the end of the opening period en route to reeling off an unanswered runs of six consecutive goals. Dan Comrie drew the equalizer for Scripps Ranch, assisted by Jennings Brieck, and the Falcons took a 2-1 lead on a power play goal by Greg Best with 35 seconds to play in the opening period – and 15 seconds left on the penalty to LJCD’s Max Guise. Subsequent goals by Rick Comrie, Brieck and Best again pushed the Falcon lead to 5-1 through two periods of play. Best’s goal was a perfect set-up. He waited outside the crease for a rebound and pounced on it, sending it top shelf over Torres sophomore netminder Ben Bartlett.

With the teams starting to even out in play on the court, Rick Comrie made an against the run of play rush to score past the outstretched pad of Bartlett with 13:45 to play in the third period to give Scripps Ranch a 6-1 lead. A regrouped LJCD team then proceeded to pick away at that five-goal lead, reducing it to 6-3 with two goals on one shift. Guise scored on a rebound to cut the Torres’ deficit to 6-2 with Frankie Warren drawing the assist. Warren then scored, assisted by Chris Bartlett, to bring LJCD to within three goals. The Torres looked to further capitalize when they drew a power play with 9:48 to play but with less than a minute remaining in it, gave it away on a penalty to Sigmund. The Falcons scored on Sigmund’s half of the penalty to lead 7-3. Dan Comrie scored on a wrist shot, assisted by older brother Rick, after getting past Warren and skating in solo on the LJCD net. With 6:30 left on the clock, Scripps Ranch had all but wrapped up the game. The never-say-die Torres, however, got another goal, with 4:10 to play to make the score 7-4. Sigmund made a great individual effort, circling from behind the Falcon net and passing out to Warren, who shoveled in a shot from Falcon goaltender Colin Beam’s left side. With time ticking down, LJCD pulled its goaltender for an extra attacker but Dan Comrie gained control of the puck and walked in an empty net goal with nine seconds to play to make the final score 8-4.

Top-seeded Scripps Ranch takes a 19-1-1 record into the Division I championship game; the fourth-seeded Torres finish the season 16-6-0.

Dan Comrie finished the semifinal game with three goals and two assists. Rick Comrie had two goals and three assists while Brieck had a goal and two assists and Best (who has enjoyed a torrid second half to the season as far as goalscoring is concerned) notched a pair of goals. Scripps Ranch finished with a 29-24 advantage in shots with both Beam and Bartlett credited with 20 saves apiece. For LJCD, Sigmund (the team’s regular season points leader) was held to one goal and one assist. Warren led the Torres in the game with two goals and two assists.

"We got up 6-1 and lost our mental focus somewhat," Falcon coach Greg Friedman said. "Up 6-1, everyone wanted to score a goal."

Friedman said his team’s strategy was simple: "Beat up on Nathan. Give him the body any time he touched the puck and make the rest of their team beat us. He had one goal," the Scripps Ranch coach said.

Besides the defensive game plan (crediting Rick Comrie with a standout game), Friedman was also pleased with the team’s offensive spark – particularly that fired off by Best. "He had been on our third line. We put him on the second line and he scored two big goals for us," Friedman said.

"They out-played us. They did a real good job. They came to play. They finished their chances," said Sigmund in closing out his first campaign with the Torres. "It was a great season for us. It was tough."

Montgomery 5, Sweetwater 0

Jamil Patiag and Josh Royal each scored two goals and an assist to the Aztecs past the Red Devils in a matchup of two unbeaten playoff squads. Chris Troie had a goal and assist for Montgomery, which won despite being outshot 16-10 by Sweetwater.

Anthony Arciga had three goals and four assists to lead the Mariners to their first playoff win. Roque Luna had three goals and one assist to help spur the Mar Vista offense while regular season team scoring leader Clint Jones contributed a goal and two assists. Ricky Osorio had a goal and two assists for the Mariners, who outshot the Raiders 21-9. Tony Crenshaw scored for Southwest, which dropped to 0-23 on the season.

Sweetwater 4, Chula Vista 1

Steve Martinez paced Sweetwater with two goals while teammate Brandon Fox had two assists as the Red Devils clinched a berth in the Division II championship game with a final 3-1-0 round robin record. Gerardo Ortega and Abel Sanchez also scored for Sweetwater, which outshot the Spartans 22-8.

Josh Royal led the Aztecs to a berth in the Division II championship game by scoring three goals and one assist. Chris Troie contributed a goal and two assists while Mike Mortensen added a goal and assist for the Aztecs, who finished the game with a 24-6 shot advantage. Bobby Palma scored once for Montgomery while Jamil Patiag added an assist. Tony Crenshaw scored for the Raiders, who finished the season 0-24. Montgomery finished round-robin playoff competition 3-0-1 after concluding regular season play 3-17-0, "Everybody played incredible. They wanted it," said Montgomery coach Brian Phillips.

Roque Luna led the Mariners to their second consecutive playoff win and a final round-robin record of 2-1-1 by scoring a goal and assist. Clint Jones got Mar Vista rolling with a goal while Ricky Osorio added an insurance goal. Mike Foster notched the lone goal of the game for the Spartans, who finished the round-robin playoff action with a 1-3-0 mark. Thomas Doran drew the assist on the Chula Vista goal.

San Diego County High School Roller Hockey Conference (click here)