Gulls Drop Tight Battle In Tucson 2-1

Oct 24, 2023

By Nick Aguilera/SanDiegoGulls.com 

The San Diego Gulls fought until the very last second, but they couldn’t generate much offense in a 2-1 loss to the Tucson Roadrunners Tuesday morning. 

Goaltending was once again a bright spot for the Gulls. Calle Clang stopped 33-of-35 shots in his second start of the season, keeping the Gulls in the game despite the lack of goals. Through the first four games of the 2023-24 season, Clang and Alex Stalock have combined for a 2.52 goals against average and a .932 save percentage. 

"He was great," center Andrew Agozzino said. "Early on, he made some big saves. I think the shots were pretty heavily in favor for them early on, but he was great all [day] for us."

The early puck drop seemed to get to San Diego in the first period, as they only recorded four shots on net, matching the fewest they’ve had in a period this season. Tucson took the lead early after former Gull Hunter Drew netted his first goal of the year just under four minutes into the game. 

"You just kind of have to stay disciplined in what your offensive systems are," Agozzino said. "The more you can kind of rely on those, the more predictability there will be and, I think, the more offense you'll create."

Trevor Carrick woke up the Gulls offense in the second, scoring his first goal of the season at 5:22 to tie it. With points in every game this season, it marks the first time in his AHL career he’s opened a campaign with points in four straight (1-4=5). 

In his professional debut, Jaxsen Wiebe recorded his first AHL career assist and point on Carrick’s goal. 

"It felt good," Wiebe said. "It was a quick transition. Trevor (Carrick) jumped in on the play. I saw him come over the blue line. Gave it to him and he stepped in the slot and ripped it in. Just capitalizing on transition plays like that and it was a good goal."

The game was deadlocked at one heading into the third period before Tucson’s Dylan Guenther redirected a puck past Clang to put the Roadrunners on top. Tucson goaltender Matthew Villalta stood tall and stopped 22-of-23 shots, including all nine shots faced in the third, to earn the win. 

"We came out a little bit slow, I thought, but that can happen with an odd game start time like it was," Wiebe said. "But I thought our guys did a lot better job in the second and third period, just getting our feet moving and getting pucks in and going to work.  

Creating energy ultimately is what you need to do in an early game like that. I thought we did a better job of that in the second and third and had our opportunities and they didn't go in."

The Gulls will be back home for a matchup with the Abbotsford Canucks on Friday night at Pechanga Arena San Diego (7 p.m. PT) before heading to Henderson to face the Silver Knights Sunday afternoon (1 p.m. PT).