CHULA VISTA, Jan. 29, 2002 -- How do you spell heart?

 It’s easy. Ask the La Jolla Country Day Torres. They epitomized the definition in Tuesday’s South Bay League showdown game against the defending league champion Hilltop Lancers.

Despite missing two key players, including team scoring leader Nathan Sigmund, the Torres kept their league championship hopes alive with a key 7-5 victory against the powerhouse Lancers.

“Over the course of the season, the team has learned to play as a team,” said LJCD coach Dean Wilson, whose team improved to 9-5-0. “You can have a superstar and if you play as individuals, you’re not going to win.”

Team effort definitely defined the Torres’ win over the Lancers. The huge victory broke a two-game losing streak by LJCD that included narrow losses to Mesa League powers Scripps Ranch (7-5) and Bonita Vista (4-3). The loss was only the third all season for Hilltop (11-3-1), which had lost just twice in 14 previous trips to the court.

After yielding the jump goal to Hilltop’s Erick Morgan, the Torres reeled off three unanswered scores to end the opening period with a 3-1 lead. Adam Arena tied it for LJCD while Max Guise, assisted by Chris Bartlett, gave the Torres their two-goal lead. LJCD received gutsy defensive play from a number of players to deny the hard-charging Lancers. Standouts included Adam and Chris Arena, Chris Bartlett and Frankie Warren.

However, Hilltop had its own corps of high-achievers and the Lancers owned the better run of play throughout most of the matchup. Hilltop narrowed the score to 3-2 by scoring the pivotal first goal of the second period and proceeded thereafter to pepper LJCD goalie Ben Bartlett for the remainder of the 15-minute middle stanza. The Torres caught a break in the onslaught when Sam Hodgson scored with 5:25 to play in the period to give LJCD a 4-2 lead. Guise was credited with the set-up pass on the against-the-flow downcourt rush. But Hilltop’s Carl Horten, who was intentionally shadowed most of the game, scored on a breakaway feed from Morgan just over a minute later to once again trim the score to a goal at 4-3. The Lancers had to play defensively to end the period after taking a penalty for high-sticking but quickly tied the game at 4-all once at even strength. That came when Morgan shot through a maze of players in front of Bartlett to even the contest with 12:11 remaining in regulation time.

However, the LJCD goaltender continued to play strong throughout the rest of the game, denying Morgan on a breakaway with 10:18 left. Holding their own, the Torres moved out in front 5-4 while beating back the sustained Lancer attack. Adam Arena, set up by Chris Bartlett, notched the go-ahead goal with 7:52 to play.

But Hilltop’s persistence paid off just 45 seconds later when Morgan roofed a shot over the LJCD ’tender’s shoulder to knot the teams once more on the scoreboard at 5-5. Bartlett denied the Lancers the go-ahead goal with 2:58 left when he made an acrobatic diving stop to stuff a tap-in at the post on a perfect set-up pass from the face-off circle. The play was executed exactly as drawn up in practice except for Bartlett’s heroic last stand.

As if inspired by Bartlett’s game-saving play, the Torres regrouped to put the victory away with two goals in the final 1:35. Guise made it 6-5, assisted by Warren. Hodgson then scored an insurance goal with 35 seconds left on the clock, also assisted by Warren.

“We really had to step it up. We had two of our better players out for the game. We had to work harder because we were missing our top scorer,” said Guise, who finished the game with two goals and one assist.

“For us to win like that, it was a whole team effort,” Wilson noted.

Warren, who entered the game as the Torres’ second-leading scorer, played an all-around game both offensively and defensively. He was credited with three assists in the game. Hodgson had two goals while Chris Bartlett contributed two assists. As the last man on defense, Ben Bartlett also shone brightly. “The last two weeks, Ben has played the best he has all year,” said Wilson of the LJCD ’tender. “He’s really stepped it up.”

Morgan led Hilltop with four goals and one assist to place his own personal stamp on the contest. Joe Casillas registered two assists while Ben Nixon and Kyle Lew each set up one goal.

“It was a good game offensively for us. We got beat on defense,” said Lancer coach Don Vaccaro. “They took it to us. They outhustled us on defense.”

“We just lost momentum. They wanted it more. A couple bad goals did it in for us,” Nixon said.