Gulls Comeback Bid Falls Short In 4-3 Loss To Tucson

Dec 23, 2023

By Morgan Korovec/SanDiegoGulls.com  

The San Diego Gulls hit the rink for the third time in four days against the Tucson Roadrunners, dropping the hard-fought game 3-1 at Pechanga Arena San Diego.  

Tucson opened the scoring before the five-minute mark, as Jan Jenik deposited his sixth goal of the season at 3:58 into the first.  

Just a minute later, San Diego answered by pulling the score even as Brayden Tracey collected the puck and laid a smooth shot past Matthew Villalta, his sixth goal and 12th point of the season. 

At 8:09 in the second, the Roadrunners punched back, with Jenik scoring his second goal of the evening after he shot a long one through traffic.  

Moments later, goalie Alex Stalock made a pair of stellar saves on Dylan Guenther’s too-close-for-comfort attempts, successfully preventing the Roadrunners from extending their lead beyond a single goal to end the second period.  

"That was an unbelievable effort from him tonight," Judd Caulfield said. "If it weren’t for him, it could have been really ugly there. I don’t even know if I can count on my hands how many breakaways he stopped there in the first and second period for us. He really kept us in the game and it’s unbelievable, being away from the game for that long and just having the mental capacity to stick in there when times aren’t going well for us and just battle like that. It’s unbelievable, testament to his character."

Stalock stopped 41-of-44 shots in his first action since Nov. 17. 

With the scoreboard looking just as it did by the end of teams’ previous October matchup together, the Gulls trailing by one point, tensions stirred in the third and helmets came loose in a scuffle on the ice.  

At 7:58, Tucson amplified that intensity as Aku Raty netted an insurance goal to stretch their lead over San Diego. 

Glenn Gawdin acted on the spirited energy of tonight’s physical game when he snuck the puck to the side of the Villalta and into the net at 17:50 for his seventh goal of the season. 

Moments later, Tucson interrupted that celebration as John Leonard shot into the empty net, depositing an insurance goal to seal the team’s victory at 18:18. 

With just 30 seconds left of play, Andrew Agozzino shoveled one into the net to secure a power play goal, marking his seventh goal and 21st point of the season. 

Ultimately, San Diego’s gritty performance in their attempt at revenge against the Roadrunners wasn’t enough to snatch the victory from Tucson.  

Nathan Gaucher, Agozzino and Robert Hagg picked up assists on the night.  

Caulfield picked up two assists on the night. Tonight’s game was a multi-point effort for Gawdin, who scored and recorded an assist. 

The Gulls are set to battle it out again with the Roadrunners at Tucson on Saturday, December 30. 

San Diego will gear up for their next upcoming matchup on Wednesday, Dec. 27 with the Coachella Valley Firebirds at Acrisure Arena (7 p.m. PST).  

"I guess when you look at it from the perspective of injuries, gives guys a few days to heal up," head coach Matt McIlvane said. "You know, we felt the short front end today, for sure, with a back-to-back but you know, gives everybody a chance to reset here mentally to get ready for our next push."