Gulls Close Out 2023 With 3-2 Loss To Roadrunners

Dec 30, 2023

By Nick Aguilera/SanDiegoGulls.com 

The San Diego Gulls didn’t end the calendar year how they would have liked to, as they fell 3-2 to the Tucson Roadrunners Saturday night at Tucson Convention Center Arena. 

Despite the loss, San Diego had a record over .500 in December, finishing 6-5-1-0 in the month. 

"The exciting part is that [we’re] maybe different than where we were a couple months ago," head coach Matt McIlvane said. "We have a real identity that we know drives our success and we have a style of play that really works for us. And we all know it, we've seen it, and we've been able to repeat it and now to be able to sustain it, you know, is the big thing."

The Gulls were clearly riding the high from their overtime win over Ontario and came out of the gate firing. Judd Caulfield broke the seal and scored on a breakaway to put San Diego on the board halfway through the opening frame, his sixth goal of the season. Caulfield has put up 3-8=11 points in 12 games in December. 

After his career night on Thursday, Josh Lopina continued his hot streak and tipped in a shot from Trevor Carrick for a power-play goal that put the Gulls up by two in the first. 

"Trevor got a bomb up top so anytime he can shoot it, we want to get pucks and bodies to the net," Lopina said. "I kind of just threw a stick on that one, luckily went past the goalie."

The Roadrunners answered back in the second, though, as Dylan Guenther and Aku Raty both scored to tie the game. 

Tucson took the lead early in the final frame after John Leonard jumped on a rebound to deposit a power-play goal, the Roadrunners’ second PPG of the night. 

"Really liked our start," McIlvane said. "I think that first period was carried over from our Ontario game. And then from there it gets real disappointing. I thought we lost focus at moments through the second period. Sloppy line changes and we got away from the way that we wanted to play. Gave them opportunities on the power play that didn't need to be there. They get rewarded with goals around the net."

Alex Stalock stopped 28-of-31 shots. Nikita Nesterenko earned an assist on the night, his ninth helper of the season. 

The Gulls will ring in the new year in Henderson, as they head to The Dollar Loan Center to face the Silver Knights in their first contest of 2024 on Wednesday, Jan. 3 (7 p.m. PST).