La Jolla Country Day Roller Hockey 2008-09

We just finished our 2008-09 season in the South Bay League of the Metro Conference.  We played 20 games during the regular  season, with 15 games against South Bay  rivals (3 games against each team) and 5 games against non-league rivals.  We had a challenging non-league schedule, consisting of four games against North County League powerhouses (Westview, Rancho Bernardo, Poway, and West Hills) and a game against Mesa League power Otay Ranch.  St. Augustine proved to be our primary rival in the South Bay.  It was a great season, and we experienced a lot of success.  During the regular season we went 15-0 in the South Bay and 16-4 overall.  We won the South Bay League Championship, which was our first league title in school history.  We were the eighth seed in conference playoffs.  We faced ninth-seeded St. Augustine in the first round of the playoffs and came away with a 4-3 victory. Unfortunately, we suffered a disappointing 17-2 loss to top-seeded Westview in the quarterfinals.   Thus, our overall record for the season was 17-5.

Three players on our team received league and conference honors:

• Freshman Cameron Sowka was named a First Team All League Forward in the South Bay League.
• Sophomore James Owsiany finished second in conference scoring with 62 goals and 31 assists for 93 points in 20 games.  He was named as a First Team All League Forward and as a Second Team All Conference Forward.
• Senior and Captain Benjamin Sweeney finished first in conference scoring with 66 goals and 39 assists for 105 points in 20 games.  He was named First Team All League Defenseman for the fourth straight year.  He was also named South Bay League Player of the Year and Second Team All Conference Defenseman.

Unfortunately, we will lose three players to graduation -- seniors Cameron Eibl, Ben Sweeney, and Eric Williamson.  We will return a small but solid nucleus of players -- sophomores Sam Brink, James Owsiany, and Joey Sowka and freshman Cameron Sowka.  We will be adding James's brother Ryan and need to add a few more recruits.  If we do, we should have another small but strong roster and compete again for the South Bay title.