Gulls Ground Condors in 5-3 Victory
Mar 4, 2024By Morgan Korovec/SanDiegoGulls.com
A rare Monday night hockey game proved to be a lucky one for the San Diego Gulls, who soared to a hard-earned 5-3 victory over the Bakersfield Condors at Pechanga Arena San Diego.
Determined to set the tone right for their six-game homestand, the Gulls came out and made a statement early in the opening frame as Ben King netted his 11th goal of the season before the five-minute mark.
With the clock winding down in the first, Glenn Gawdin struck on the power play to put San Diego on top by two goals, slamming his 17th goal of the season past Oliver Rodrigue at 15:50. It was a multi-point effort for Gawdin, who also tallied an assist on the night (17-23=40).
Moments later, the Gulls’ lead would be cut in half as the Condors’ Raphael Lavoie found the back of the net at 16:53 to put Bakersfield on the scoreboard.
With under 30 seconds remaining in the first, Trevor Carrick beat the clock to restore San Diego’s two-goal lead, depositing his sixth goal of the season to end the opening frame. It was a two-point night for Carrick as he also picked up an assist (6-26=32).
"It’s nice to play at home," Carrick said. "I don’t think we’ve had the success at home that we’ve obviously wanted. I think it was nice to kind of get that monkey off the back with that big one here tonight at home and it felt real good."
To open the action in the middle frame, the Condors responded with their second goal of the night, netted by Drake Caggiula at 5:45.
With less than one second left in the second, Bakersfield’s Seth Griffith replied with a goal on the power play to pull the score even just before the final frame.
At 13:53 in the third, King stayed hot, bringing home his second goal of the night and 12th goal of the season (12-10=22) to put San Diego up by one.
With just over a minute remaining in regulation, Josh Lopina cashed in on the empty net, launching his 14th goal of the season to seal the victory for the Gulls.
"I know there was a lot of good that happened in our third period," head coach Matt McIlvane said. "We certainly needed a rebound after our second period, and I thought that we did. We got off of our heels and into the attack and it gave us a really good opportunity to play the way that we want to play, and the guys got rewarded in the end."
Tomas Suchanek made stellar saves on the night, allowing only 3 of 27 shots.
Robert Hagg picked up two helpers on the night, his first multi-point effort as a Gull.
Tyson Hinds, Chase De Leo, Nathan Gaucher, Brayden Tracey, and Pavol Regenda each tallied an assist on the night.
San Diego continues its homestand with two contests this week against the Coachella Valley Firebirds beginning with a mid-week matchup on Wednesday, Mar. 6 at Pechanga Arena San Diego (7 p.m. PST).