Gulls Capture 5-3 Victory over Admirals
Mar 15, 2024By Morgan Korovec/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls dominated home ice Friday night as they locked in a 5-3 victory over the Milwaukee Admirals in their first of back-to-back battles at Pechanga Arena San Diego this weekend.
San Diego burst out of the gate and made a statement early, as Chase De Leo kickstarted the scoring less than two minutes into the opening frame with his 12th goal of the season.
"Obviously, I think we owe it to our fans," De Leo said. "We’ve had a tough go at home, I feel like for the most part of this year, so, nice to make up for that. I thought we had a great effort from top to bottom. Everybody contributed. Penalty kill was great. Power play, we were able to cash in. Just nice to get a win on home ice."
At 19:16, Nikita Nesterenko beat the clock to flick his 14th goal of the season past Yaroslav Askarov, pushing the Gulls’ lead to two while keeping the Admirals off the board to end the first.
The middle frame started with another San Diego goal as Andrew Agozzino delivered his 15th goal of the season on the power play at 6:14 to give the Gulls a commanding three-goal lead. Agozzino also tallied an assist.
At 14:21 in the second, Joakim Kemell found the back of the net on the power play to put Milwaukee on the scoreboard.
San Diego fired back at 17:23 as Glenn Gawdin hit the net with his 18th goal of the season, restoring the Gulls’ three-goal lead to end the middle frame. It was a multi-point effort for Gawdin, who also recorded two assists on the night.
Phil Tomasino responded with a power-play goal at 11:45 in the third as Milwaukee pushed to close the gap. Five minutes later, Cody Hodgson took advantage of the power play to bring the Admirals within one with only minutes left in regulation.
De Leo wouldn’t let that slide, firing in his second goal of the night into the empty net to seal the victory at 19:52 in the final frame. It was a multi-point night for De Leo as the captain picked up a helper to go along with his pair of goals (2-1=3).
Calle Clang was a solid shield in net, stopping all but two of 31 shots on the evening to earn his third straight victory.
Robert Hagg recorded three assists on the night, a new AHL career-high. Ben King picked up two helpers, his first professional multi-assist game. Sasha Pastujov also tallied an assist on the night.
"Tomorrow will come fast," head coach Matt McIlvane said. "There's no hiding behind the fact that we're not proud of our record at home, especially at the start of the season. But to have a homestand like this and an opportunity to be able to close it out 5-1, is something I think our fans deserve."
San Diego will be right back at it tomorrow night, Saturday, Mar. 16, for the second of back-to-backs with Milwaukee in a St. Patrick’s Day showdown at Pechanga Arena San Diego (6 p.m. PST).