Frosh phenoms are lacing up their skates in 2025-26 Metro Conference roller hockey season

Last season, the Metro Conference roller hockey scoring race was contested between Eastlake High junior Chris Rollbusch Jr. and Bonita Vista senior Jacob Hunter.

Rollbusch rolled to the regular season scoring title with a personal record 114 points on 77 goals and 37 assists. Including playoffs last season, Rollbusch collected 139 points in 20 games — an average of 6.95 points per game as the Titans’ primary scorer.

Hunter finished runner-up in the regular season with 78 points on 62 goals and six assists.

Hunter may have grabbed the bigger prize with four goals, including two power play tallies, in the Barons’ 5-4 upset win over the Titans in the conference playoff championship game.

Bonita Vista secured the finals victory on a dramatic goal by Hunter with 15.6 seconds to play in regulation.

Hunter, who played youth ice hockey at the 14U through 18U levels with the San Diego Saints, is now playing Tier II junior hockey with the Mercer Chiefs in the United States Premier Hockey League in Hamilton, N.J.

Rollbusch is back racking up points right and left on the playing court in a Titan uniform. This year’s scoring title looks to be between teammates, however, not adversaries.

Enter Eastlake freshman Jacob Fox, a second-generation roller hockey player in the conference, son of former Sweetwater alumnus Brandon Fox (class of 1994).

Brandon Fox now serves as a game official in the Sweetwater district, putting both father and son in the spotlight each game. As a player, Brandon Fox was no less notable after scoring a hat trick to lead Sweetwater to the CIF-Metro Conference Division II championship game over the Montgomery Aztecs as a junior.

The gene for skating and scoring appears to have been successfully passed on.

Roller hockey is designed to be a high-scoring sport. Watching both Fox and Rollbusch on the court is proof of that.

Through 10 games, Rollbusch tops the undefeated Titans (10-0) in scoring with 57 points on 43 goals and 14 assists. Fox is a close runner-up with 55 points on 38 goals and 17 assists.

Rollbusch is averaging 6.3 points per game while Fox is averaging 61. Points per game.

Eastlake has two more regular season games remaining before the championship playoffs face off. The conference scoring title may go down to the final game and perhaps even the final shift.

Rollbusch made a statement with seven goals and one assist in Thursday’s 18-0 Metro-Mesa League win over Otay Ranch; Fox logged eight goals and three assists in a Jan. 8 game against Otay Ranch, a 14-0 win.

“Jacob brings a lot of speed and puck control to the rink — that’s the exclamation point to his game,” EHS head coach Chris Rollbusch Sr. said.

Few teams have the luxury of a powerful one-two punch like the Titans possess this season.

“It’s a joy,” the EHS coach said. “I think having Jacob there to learn the game from Chris is important for his development as a roller hockey player — turning speed and puck controls into goals. The thing to remember is that Jacob is only a freshman. Chris will graduate this year, so Jacob will become the face of Eastlake roller hockey in the future.”

“I want to set the scoring record,” the younger Fox admitted.

There’s more to the story, though.

Enter Otay Ranch freshman Gavin Corriveau, who would make an exciting skills competition opponent for the younger Fox if they ever matched up in such a competition.

Corriveau has made an impression from the start for the Mustangs, currently runner-up to Eastlake in the Metro-Mesa League standings.

Corriveau racked up 10 goals in a 10-2 win over Mar Vista on Dec. 15 and potted nine goals in a non-league win over Southwest on Dec. 11. The Mustangs blanked San Ysidro, 15-0, on Dec. 8 and topped Sweetwater, 10-1, behind seven goals and two assists by the perky frosh, on Dec. 18.

The two freshmen phenoms know each other well after both learning to skate at the Kroc Center and playing in both in-house and travel teams (San Diego Saints) based out of the center.

Like Fox, Corriveau brings over a ton of ice hockey skills to the inline court.

“I only started playing roller hockey this year,” Corriveau said.

The transition so far has been a great success. “A lot of skating, speed and puck control,” Corriveau said in describing his skill set.

Metro Conference Roller Hockey Update

Monday, Jan. 12
Metro-South Bay League: Hilltop 5, Southwest 0
Metro-Mesa League: Otay Ranch 4, Bonita Vista 3
Metro-Pacific League: Sweetwater 7, San Ysidro 1
Sweetwater scoring: Phoebe Blas 3 goals, Ryan Lopez 3 goals, Fernando Gonzalez 1 goal, Ian Garcia (goaltender win)
Hilltop scoring: Tre Nichols 3 goals; Michael Han 2 goals
Otay Ranch scoring: Gavin Correveau 2 goals, Santiago Pearson 1 goal, David Hedgecock 1 goal

Tuesday, Jan. 13

Non-League

Eastlake 1, Castle Park 0 (forfeit)
Bonita Vista 1, Mar Vista 0 (OT)
Hilltop 6, Otay Ranch 3
Southwest 5, San Ysidro 0
Hilltop scoring: Treo Nichols 5 goals; Brenden Beaver 3 assists; Michael Han 1 goal
Bonita Vista scoring: Aaron Odvia 1 goal

Wednesday, Jan. 14
Metro-Pacific League: San Ysidro 1, Castle Park 0 (forfeit)

Metro-Mesa League: Eastlake 12, Bonita Vista 0
Metro-South Bay League: Hilltop 6, Mar Vista 2
Eastlake scoring: Chris Rollbusch Jr. 4 hgoals, 2 assists; Sidney Jonason 4 goals, one assist; Jacob Fox 4 goals, 1 assist; Nico Battillo 2 assists; Desi Garcia 2 assists; Kaden Tomasian 1 assist

Thursday, Jan. 15
Metro-Pacific League: Sweetwater 1, Castle Park 0 (forfeit)
Metro-South Bay League: Mar Vista 1, Southwest 0
Metro-Mesa League: Eastlake 18. Otay Ranch 0
Mar Vista scoring: Fernando Corona 1 goal; Raeden Owen 1 assist; Richard Scarborough shutout
Eastlake scoring: Chris Rollbusch Jr. 7 goals, 1 assist; Jacob Fox 3 goals, 1 assist; Sid Jonason 2 goals, 2 assists; Desi Garcia 2 goals, 2 assists; Nico Battilo 2 assists; R. Resano 1 goal; Sam Chavez 1 goal, 1 assist; Kaden Tomasian 2 goals

Metro Conference Standings

Metro-Mesa League: Eastlake 3-0, Otay Ranch 1-2, Bonita Vista 0-2

Metro-South Bay League: Hilltop 3-0, Mar Vista 1-1-1, Southwest 0-3-1

Metro-Pacific League: Sweetwater 3-0, San Ysidro 1-1, Castle Park 0-3

TOP CONFERENCE RECORDS
(Through Jan. 15)
Eastlake 10-0
Hilltop 8-1
Otay Ranch 6-3
Mar Vista 4-4-1
Southwest 4-5-1
Bonita Vista 4-5
Sweetwater 3-6
San Ysidro 2-7
Castle Park 0-10