Gulls Defeat Barracuda in Overtime to Open Homestand
Mar 26, 2025By Samantha Mason/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls kicked off their final homestand of the season with a victory over the San Jose Barracuda 4-3.
San Diego played three road games last week and returned to Pechanga Arena with a shutout victory against Henderson under their belt.
The Gulls, who sit only seven points away from clinching a playoff spot, are prepared to keep working towards the Calder Cup playoffs.
San Jose opened the scoring in the first period, but Roland McKeown put his team on the scoreboard with less than five minutes left in the opening frame, his 12th goal and 33rd point of the season. He was assisted by Ryan Carpenter and Ian Moore, Moore’s first career AHL point and assist.
"[We] trust our game," said Moore. "Stay composed, stick to what we're doing, how we know how to play. It's a resilient group. So, we never think we're out of it and just keep playing our game and results will hopefully come."
These two teams kept it close all night. As soon as the Barracuda netted their second, so did the Gulls, courtesy of Ryan Carpenter.
With less than five minutes left in the second period, Jan Mysak put San Diego back on top 3-2, assisted by Moore and Nico Myatovic.
The third period saw San Diego in the lead until San Jose tied it back up late in the frame, ending regulation with a score of 3-3.
Carsen Twarynski was the star of the show with the overtime winner, assisted by Yegor Sidorov and Stian Solberg. Since arriving in San Diego, Twarynski has netted three goals.
"There's just no passengers in there," said Twarynski. "And no matter what's going on, everyone's got energy, everyone's still talking, everyone's supporting each other, and talking about what we can do on that next shift. So, as long as you stick together with it and keep going, and that's what you'll do, and this room has all of that."
"We end up down, but, right again, we have the answer," added head coach Matt McIlvane. "And then a huge power play goal, and then big time [for] Carsen to be able to get that done in overtime. So that was awesome."
The Gulls return to Pechanga Arena on Friday to host the Tucson Roadrunners (7 p.m. PDT).