Gulls Drop Preseason Finale to Ontario

Recap: Gulls Drop Preseason Finale to Ontario

Oct 1, 2018

The Gulls concluded the 2018 preseason with a 4-3 loss to the Ontario Reign in front of 9,324 fans at Honda Center. The loss marked the second striaght game where San Diego held a lead but couldn’t manage to close out the contest as the Gulls fell to 4-3-0-2 all-time in nine preseason games, including 2-3-0-0 at home.

After the Gulls gave up another second multi-goal lead this preseason, the focus continues to be on the positives that can be taken from an exhibition season where competition and 

“We worked on our power play a little bit this week and we wanted to improve there. We saw the improvement, although it sucked the life out of us late in the game,” said Gulls head coach Dallas Eakins. “I think the reaction, especially offensively tonight was something that we worked hard on and we saw improvement there. But as always, there’s work to be done. It’s one of those games where we’re able to evaluate a lot, evaluate individuals. There’s some guys fighting for slots in our lineup here. Some helped themselves and others did not.”

Giovanni Fiore tallied the first goal of the game at 5:58 of the first period with power play tally following Logan Shaw’s shot that caromed off of Cal Petersen’s left pad. 

Chase De Leo recorded two goals in the second period over the span of 1:55. The first of his two goals came off of a rebound from a shot by Jacob Larsson, while his second was scored on the power play from a cross-ice pass from the crease by Sam Carrick.

After San Diego stormed out to a 3-0 lead in the second period, it was Ontario that scored four unanswered goals to sweep the Gulls in a preseason home-and-home series. 

Zach Mitchell, Sean Walker, Austin Strand scored goals for the Reign to knot the game at 3-3. It wasn’t until 17:02 of the final frame that Kyle Bauman scored to give Ontario a 4-3 edge they wouldn’t relinquish as second-year goaltender Cal Petersen stooped 27-of-30 shots in his first preseason contest in net for the Reign. 

Jarred Coreau started in net for the Gulls and in 30:05 of game time the 6-5, 225-pound goaltender stopped 11-of-12 shots. Kevin Boyle replaced Coreau with 9:55 remaining in the second period, making 15 saves in 27:41.

Three stars:
1. Z. Mitchell (ONT)
2. C. De Leo (SD)
3. K. Bauman (ONT)

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