Gulls Lassoed by Wild in 2-1 OT Loss

Jan 13, 2024

By Morgan Korovec/SanDiegoGulls.com  

The San Diego Gulls found themselves unable to lasso a second win over the Iowa Wild, as they fell 2-1 in OT on a hard-fought Country Night at Pechanga Arena San Diego Saturday night.  

The opening frame was tightly contested as San Diego burst onto the ice hot, while Iowa came out seeking revenge, though neither team could find the back of the net to end the first.  

The second period saw both teams clawing for the first goal of the evening, but the game remained scoreless through the first two frames. 

"It was competitive the whole game," head coach Matt McIlvane said. "I think both teams had a taste in their mouth from the last game that we wanted to prove that we were better and that we could keep going. They wanted a little bit of revenge, and it was gritty the whole time. Often times you feel that in the back-to-back." 

Glenn Gawdin made Pechanga Arena come alive at 6:06 into the third as he kicked off the scoring, racing into the zone and firing it past Zane McIntyre to put San Diego on the scoreboard with a shorthanded goal, his tenth goal of the season.  

This fired up Iowa, who scored minutes later as Jake Lucchini punched in his tenth goal of the season at 9:03 to tie the game. 

Battling to uneven the score, things stayed hot to continue the third, which eventually forced overtime.   

In OT, the Wild’s Ryan O’Rourke struck the puck at 1:31, tucking the game-winning goal into the net.  

"Hard-fought for sure," Gawdin said of the contest. "You know, it stings to give that one up at the end there. I thought, you know, we had chances to win. Obviously, the first two periods being 0-0, it was just one of those nights, and it stings."

Calle Clang stopped all but two of 37 shots on the night. 

"Clang stood on his head tonight, for sure… and the same with Tomas last night, he was a big reason why we won. You know, I think all three of our goalies are pretty strong, we have confidence in whoever is in net," Gawdin said.  

"You know, I think when we play the right way, it’s effective and we have success… I think this week in general, we played a lot more structurally to our system and I thought that we didn’t give up as many chances. I thought we got a lot more chances than we have been… Those little things that we’ve been talking about, we’ve got to continue to do."

The San Diego Gulls are next set to square off with the Abbotsford Canucks for a back-to-back weekend at Abbotsford Centre on Saturday, Jan. 20 (7 p.m. PST) and Sunday, Jan. 21 (4 p.m. PST).