San Diego Successful Over San Jose in Shootout
Dec 4, 2024By Samantha Mason/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls are leaving San Jose victorious tonight after defeating the San Jose Barracuda 2-1 in a thrilling 12-round shootout.
Tonight’s contest marks the second time this season these two teams have faced off. In their last meeting, the Barracuda claimed victory. This time, the Gulls are flying home with a win.
"Right from the start of the game, you could tell that we were on a mission," said assistant coach Kris Sparre. "I think that was the challenge to the group that we can up our compete level. And we saw it really in every area of the ice tonight. Really proud of the guys. We thought we did a really good job in this one tonight."
The first period saw the Barracuda score the first goal of the night, and the only goal of the period. San Jose held the lead until the second period, where Gulls defenseman Roland McKeown earned a goal, tying up the game with his seventh goal of the season, matching his career high. McKeown is tied atop the AHL defensemen leaderboards in goals.
Both teams were deadlocked in a tie throughout the end of the game, marking the third time this season that the Gulls have played a contest into overtime.
Neither team scored in the five minutes of overtime play, marking the second shootout for the Gulls this season.
After 12 intense rounds of the skills competition, center Nathan Gaucher brought the game to an end with his first career shootout goal.
"It feels good," Gaucher said. "The best feeling is getting that win for your team. That was just a well-fought battle by us tonight."
The win snaps a six-game skid for the Gulls.
"It's a great feeling," Sparre said. "There's been a lot of change in our group this year…and so we've had to re-establish our brand of hockey. And you saw it tonight. We're going to need a lot more of that if we're going to win hockey games in this league. Bringing that competitive nature and that spirit to every game is what we're going to need to give ourselves a chance like what we saw tonight. It's just a start for us."
The Gulls return home this Friday for back-to-back games at Pechanga Arena. They will face the Bakersfield Condors on Country Night at 7 p.m. PST before taking on Ontario Reign on Saturday.