Gulls Fall 4-3 in OT to Rival Reign
Apr 12, 2024By Morgan Korovec/SanDiegoGulls.com
In the final battle of the season, Friday night was a tightly contested one as the San Diego Gulls came up just short 4-3 in overtime to the rival Ontario Reign at Toyota Arena.
Ontario opened the scoring as Francesco Pinelli sent one through traffic at 10:53, giving the Reign an early lead with the lone goal of the first.
The game was equalized by the stick of Drew Helleson at 6:21 in the middle frame as he broke the ice for San Diego, giving him his third goal of the season. Helleson also recorded an assist on the night.
Less than a minute later, Ontario fired back to restore their one-goal advantage as Samuel Fagemo capitalized on the power play opportunity.
It wouldn’t be a final rival game without things getting a little chippy as they did in the last five minutes of the middle frame. Cashing in on the intense energy, Trevor Carrick ripped a shot of his own on the power play, tying the game at 17:10 with his ninth goal of the season.
Five minutes into the final frame, things took a left turn as Ontario took advantage of a penalty shot opportunity with a quick rush by Taylor Ward to reclaim the one-goal lead, which would be short-lived.
Gulls’ offense came alive just minutes later, Pavol Regenda discovering the back of the net as he dropped to the ice, notching his 18th goal of the season to even the score once more.
In overtime, the Reign earned the extra point as Fagemo struck the net again to end it.
Tomas Suchanek stopped 35-of-39 shots.
Andrew Agozzino tallied two helpers, setting a new AHL career-high with 37 assists on the season. Sasha Pastujov, Glenn Gawdin, and Chase De Leo also picked up an assist apiece on the night.
The Gulls get ready for another California clash as they will take on the Coachella Valley Firebirds on Sunday, Apr. 14 at Acrisure Arena (3 p.m. PDT) before flocking to Colorado for back-to-back games.