Photo: SD Gulls
By Thomas Harrington
The San Diego Gulls played four games over the past week and had a 2-2-0 record. The good news is the Gulls continue to be a strong road team, but they have really struggled at home this season. The Gulls have played 22 games in San Diego but only have seven wins to show for it. A better home record would have gone a long way in improving this season.
Gulls Beat Wranglers Twice In A Row
San Diego’s first game was in Calgary and it was a fun one, as Chase De Leo and Judd Caulfield both scored in the first period to make it 2-0. Glenn Gawdin and Josh Lopina doubled the lead in the second, and De Leo scored the only goal of the third to give the Gulls a 5-0 victory. Tomas Suchanek stopped all 38 shots he saw to get the shutout. De Leo also had two assists and finished the night with four points.
The next night, San Diego faced Calgary again and the Wranglers were looking for revenge. They scored early, but Nikita Nesterenko tied the game a few minutes later. Calgary took the lead back before the first was over. San Diego owned the second period, as Andrew Agozzino, Caulfied, and Olen Zellweger all scored to make it a 4-2 game. In the third, Agozzino scored his second of the game and De Leo made it 6-2 soon after that. Calgary fought back and scored two more goals, but Gawdin finished the game with an empty net goal and the Gulls won 7-4.
San Diego Downed By San Jose
The Gulls then returned home to host San Jose. Zellweger started the scoring early, but San Jose responded with two goals of their own, including one in the final 10 seconds of the period to take the lead. The Barracuda then scored twice in the second and early in the third before Ben King scored for the Gulls. The Barracuda then scored into the empty net and won 6-2.
Gulls Come Up Short Against Silver Knights
For their final game, the Gulls hosted the Henderson Silver Knights. Henderson scored the only goal of the first period and neither team found the back of the net in the second. Early in the third Henderson doubled their lead, but 20 seconds later Tyson Hinds scored to cut the deficit back to one goal. From there Henderson was able to frustrate the Gulls and neither team scored again. San Diego lost 2-1.
Final Thoughts
The Gulls will play five games over the next two weeks. They’ll start out on the road in Bakersfield before returning home to face the Reign. The Gulls will then hit the road for three straight games, the first two in Texas and the final one in Ontario.
With the trade deadline approaching, there are a number of players in San Diego who could make their way to Anaheim in the near future. At forward, Aggozino has been playing well lately, with 11 points in his last 11 games. He now leads the team in points. Pavol Regenda hasn’t been scoring like he was earlier in the season, but he does have six assists in his last five games played. On defense, Zellweger continues to be one of San Diego’s best players and has scored six points in his last four games.
It’s unfortunate the Gulls lost to Henderson and San Jose over these past two weeks. The Barracuda are right behind the Gulls and San Diego is chasing the Silver Knights. If they had won both of those games, they would only be a point behind Henderson in the standings. The playoffs are a long shot, but with how much better the Gulls have been playing lately, they still have an outside chance to get there.
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February 20th, 2024
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