Gulls Win Third in a Row, Down Condors 5-4
Oct 20, 2018The Gulls won their third straight game with a 5-4 victory on the back of a balanced scoring attack to improve to 3-2-0-0 this season.
Backstopped by goaltender Jared Coreay's 45-save performance and multi-point efforts from Corey Tropp, Troy Terry, Max Jones and Sam Carrick, San Diego won three consecutive games for the first time since the midpoint of last season.
"It has been good and I think it’s only going to get better with some injured guys coming back," said head coach Dallas Eakins on the Gulls balanced scoring. "That’s how we have to do it right now. We have to do it by committee.
"We’re certainly ready for the battle. I’ve said before we have a really high character group. They care deeply about each other and the games. When you get that group mentality it’s hard to stop. So, we want to continue that and continue to wait for these injured guys to come back."
San Diego started the game off on the right foot as rugged veteran forward Tropp put home a rebound for the first goal of the game only 2:27 into the first period. Luke Gazdic didn’t take long to make an impact in his first game with the Gulls as he gained the primary assist on the opening score.
Carrick added the other assist, extending his point streak to five straight games. In addition, he became the only player in San Diego Gulls history to register at least one point in each of San Diego's first five games to begin a season.
Moments later, gloves went flying as Steve Oleksy and Luke Esposito squared off to give their respective teams and the crowd a burst of energy at the 3:02 mark of the opening frame.
Bakersfield later tied the game up at 13:47 of the opening period with a goal by rookie Cooper Marody, his first of the season.
The talented 21-year-old Terry picked up right where he left off last night, scoring a goal on a long distance wrist shot while using the opposing Condors defenseman as a screen. Fellow rookie Max Jones picked up the primary assist, marking his first AHL regular season point. Andy Welinski also earned an assist on Terry's goal to push his point streak to three games (2-3=5).
Chase De Leo snuck in a power play goal through goaltender Al Montoya’s pads, coming on the first Gulls’ shot of the period at 3:09. The score on the man advantage would be the De Leo's’ fifth point of the season in as many games.Tropp gained another point with the assist on the power play goal for his second multi-point game this season.
Marody answered quickly after and netted his second goal of the game just 49 seconds after the Gulls’ power play tally. Just 1:17 later, Brad Malone would capitalize on a turnover by Coreau for another score and the Condors would tally back-to-back goals to tie the game at 3-3 for a second time.
Their second shot of the period would yield a similar result, as Ben Thomson would add his first goal with San Diego that would once again give San Diego the lead. Credit to Alex Dostie for forcing the turnover that would give Jake Marchment the puck to pass to Thomson for the score, with Marchment and Dostie both earning their first assists of the season.
Carrick extended the Gulls’ lead to two as he would score the eventual game-winner on a wrist shot from the faceoff dot only 90 seconds into the final frame. Although Bakersfield scored a late goal to make things interesting, the Gulls would hold on for their third consecutive win.
Jared Coreau earned his second win of the season after facing 49 shots which now rank second all-time behind Kevin Boyle’s 55 shots faced on Feb. 17, 2018 vs. Ontario (5-2 Gulls win).
“Early in the season there isn’t too much negativity,” said Tropp. “After two losses, I don’t think anyone panicked. It’s expected. You never know what you have yet. Just because we won three, we can’t be satisfied. It means nothing unless we continue to roll them together here. We got to continue to grow. I like what I see so far and hopefully we can build off of it.”
San Diego continues their stretch of home games against the Stockton Heat next Friday (Oct. 26) at Valley View Casino Center (7:00 p.m., ESPN 1700-AM).