San Diego Looks to Sweep Opening Series with San Jose
Oct 4, 2026By Ashley Rubin/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls are set to close their first weekend of the 2026-27 season today in the second game of their back-to-back series with the San Jose Barracuda at Tech CU Arena (3 p.m. PDT; TV: AHLTV on FloHockey; Radio: Gulls Audio Network).
San Diego and San Jose started this series yesterday, with the Gulls taking a huge 5-1 victory. Eight different Gulls skaters logged their first points of the season to take the win.
Matthew Phillips, James Hamblin, Nico Myatovic and Stian Solberg all had multi-point nights. Phillips, Hamblin, and Myatovic picked up a goal and assist each while Solberg logged one goal and two assists for his first career three-point night. Roger McQueen also found his first point with a goal while Ryan Carpenter, Anton Wahlberg, and Sean Farrell started their point tallies with assists.
"I think we have a really good group of guys," Phillips said. "I think we already get along really well and enjoy playing and working with each other, so that's a huge part of it. I think we've done a lot of five-on-five drills in practice, and just drills that help us work as a unit. I think that helped us just kind of turn the brains off and play today."
The victory marked the second consecutive season opening win and also marked Dave Manson’s first as head coach of the organization. Manson has been working with the new team and coaching staff for weeks now, all leading up to this moment.
"I'm super excited for him," Hamblin said. "I think we all are. He is just so down to earth. He's a guy that you want to play for. I feel like everyone here feels like they'd want to run through a wall for him. So, we're super excited. You know we want to get more wins for him."
Part of the win yesterday came from the success of special teams, a large part of Manson’s coaching role last season. The Gulls went 2-for-4 on the power play, with goals from Phillips and McQueen and 1-1 on the penalty kill.
"I mean we're rolling right along, and we had a two-man advantage," Manson said. "San Jose did a real good job on the kill, and then kind of built some momentum off that, and so we kept plugging, kept working, and were able to draw a couple more, and then capitalize on them. So anytime you know your special teams can contribute like that, and it's huge."
The team looks to take yesterday's momentum into today, knowing it will be a bigger challenge with San Jose coming back harder.
The Gulls will make their next appearance on Friday, Oct. 9 in a battle against the Coachella Valley Firebirds at Acrisure Arena at 7 p.m. PDT before returning home to Pechanga Arena on Saturday, Oct. 10 for the home opener.