San Diego Falls Short to Coachella Valley
Oct 9, 2026By Ashley Rubin/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls fell to the Coachella Valley Firebirds tonight at Acrisure Arena, 6-3.
The Gulls now hold a record of 1-1-1-0 in their three games played. The team has only competed on the road so far and have picked up three of six possible points.
San Diego was on the board first, something they’ve done in every game so far this season. The goal was scored by captain Ryan Carpenter, marking his first of the season to bring him to 1-1=2 points total. Tonight’s game marked Carpenter’s 800th professional hockey game as he has now appeared in 408 AHL games and 392 NHL games. The goal was assisted by Herman Traff, his first AHL point, and Yegor Sidorov.
Coachella Valley found two early in the middle frame to take a lead, but it did not last long. Matthew Phillips found the back of the net just 19 seconds after the Firebirds’ second goal. Phillips now holds 2-1=3 points on the season. Nico Myatovic and James Hamblin collected their second assists of the year on the goal, bringing both of them to 1-2=3 total points.
Following the Firebirds finding another lead, Cruz Lucius tied the game up to find his first career AHL goal in his professional debut. The 22-year-old forward signed a two-year entry-level contract with Anaheim this summer following a trade from the Pittsburgh Penguins. Lucius appeared in 125 NCAA games between the University of Wisconsin and Arizona State University, logging 41-83=124 career points. Anton Wahlberg collected his third assist and fourth point of the season, extending his point streak to 1-3=4 points in three games.
Laurent Brossoit made his second start of the season, saving 24 shots.
The Firebirds were able to put two past Brossoit in the third to regain their lead. Despite their efforts with 21 shots on goal in the third period, the Gulls could not find their way past Nikke Kokko to take over that lead again.
San Diego will be right back at it tomorrow as they take on the Henderson Silver Knights in their first game on home ice this season at Pechanga Arena San Diego (6 p.m. PDT).