At 4-10-0-1 (four wins, 10 losses, one shootout loss) in the opening 15 games of the 2024-25 American Hockey League season, the San Diego Gulls haven’t exactly proven goal-busters. But the team, the top developmental minor league affiliate of the NHL Anaheim Ducks, has started to make a name for itself as a comeback squad.
The Gulls faced off their home schedule Oct. 18 with a 6-5 loss to the visiting Coachella Valley Firebirds, last season’s Pacific Division champions. The Firebirds built a seemingly comfortable 6-1 lead before the hosts rallied for four goals in the third period to push the crowd into a frenzy while coming up one-goal short.
Then there was the spirited Nov. 3 contest against the visiting Abbotsford Canucks. The Gulls trailed 4-1 early in the third period before rallying with five unanswered goals in the final stanza to pull off an electrifying 6-4 victory.
Last Saturday’s 8-7 shootout loss to the visiting Bakersfield Condors again featured a trademark four-goal third-period rally after falling behind by scores of 5-2 and 7-3 to send the game into overtime where the hosts earned a valuable standing point in the shootout tie-breaker loss.
While the Gulls may not be winning the majority of their games, they have proven entertaining.
A turnaround could be coming soon if the team’s latest two setbacks are any indicator — a 2-1 loss in San Jose on Nov. 13 in which the Gulls out-shot the host Barracuda 49-32 (20-7 in the first period) and Wednesday’s 4-3 loss to the visiting Calgary Wranglers.
The Wranglers skated onto the Pechanga Arena San Diego ice with the top record in the 32-team AHL — 16 standings points ahead of the locals. The Gulls scored two short-handed goals on the Wranglers’ opening two power plays to hold a 3-2 lead through the first period.
The Wranglers haven’t compiled a near-perfect 13-3-1 record for nothing and responded with a short-handed goal of their own while adding a power play tally in the second period to go in front 4-3 on the scoreboard. The Canadian visitors then closed out the game by limiting the Gulls to just four shots in the third period.
Pavol Regenda earned second star of the game for the Gulls with a goal and assist.
Overall, the Wranglers posted a narrow 22-19 shot advantage while holding the hosts to single-digit shots in each period, but otherwise turned in a miserable showing on special teams. Los Gatos native Devin Cooley stopped 16 of 19 shots he faced to extend his season record to 10-2-0 with three shutouts, a 1.83 goals-against average and 0.947save percentage.
Gulls netminder Oscar Dansk stopped 18 of 22 shots to see his record fall to 2-3-1 on the season with a 4.13 GAA and 0.871 save percentage.
It was evident that the Gulls rose to the challenge of facing the league’s top team.
In fact,
Cooley, who received the AHL Player of the Week award on Nov. 11 by posting a 2-1 record, 0.64 GAA and 0.976 save percentage in four games during the week, is replacing Calgary graduate Dustin Wolf in the Wranglers’ net after the Gilroy native finally earned a position between the pipes with the parent NHL Calgary Flames.
Wolf received just about every award offered by the AHL as the league’s top goaltender, including the Baz Bastien Award twice (2022, 2023), the Hap Holmes Memorial Award (2023), Les Cunningham Award (2023) and Presidents Award (2023), during his four full seasons in the league.
The Gulls are 3-6-0-1 in their last 10 games, but that record might be somewhat misleading because of seven one-goal setbacks (three consecutive). The feathered bunch has two more home games scheduled in November and six in December as hockey weather (and mania) descends on the region in earnest.
“The last few weeks we’ve been working hard to improve,” Gulls captain Ryan Carpenter said.
The Gulls swept the three-star awards in the shootout loss to the Condors. Carpenter (Oviedo, Fla.) earned first star with two goals and one assist while second star Josh Lopina (Mino0oka, Ill.) collected one goal and two assists. Rodwin Dionicio (Newark, N.J.) received third star billing with another three points on one goal and two assists.
“We’re capable of great things … our standard has to be that excellence that we’ve seen,” San Diego head coach Matt McIlvane said in regard to the heroic-style performance. “We’ve seen what we can do when our backs are against the wall. Learning to develop the focus to be able to perform at our best from the start is where we’re at as a group right now. We admire our character and the resiliency and the comeback, but our job is to play 60 minutes.”
With 15 goals between the Southern California rivals, the atmosphere was electrifying at Pechanga Arena.
McIlvane was equally enthused by Wednesday’s performance.
“The goal isn’t to be close … The goal is to score more than them.,” the Gulls bench boss said. “There’s certainly positives to take away from the game. We had a lot of great efforts from a lot of individuals. We felt like that Nico Myatovic-Jan Mysak-Coulson Pitre line had great energy for us the whole game, which is great to see. We had, like I mentioned, strong defense, zone coverage, for the most part. There were positives to pull from this game, but the objective is to come out on top.
“We’re certainly growing. We still have room to. We’ll take the goals however we can get them, if they’re shorthanded, on the power play, whatever it is. But we’re thankful to see those things go in and then get the job done on the (penalty) kill. That’s the big deal.”
The Gulls’ primary purpose, of course, is to develop young talent for the Ducks. The Gulls had two players called up to Anaheim this past week: right wing Sam Colangelo and defenseman Tyson Hinds. Colangelo, a 22-year-old forward from Stoneham, Mass., is 18 games into his professional career while Hinds (Gatineau, Quebec) is playing his second season in San Diego after logging 10 points in 71 games last season as a rookie.
Colangelo, a second-round pick (36th overall) in the 2020 NHL draft after playing three seasons at Northeastern University and one season at Western Michigan University, had collected nine goals and six assists for 15 points in 14 games this season with the Gulls before his call-up. Hinds had two goals in 14 games.
The Ducks later returned Hinds to the San Diego line-up on while Colangelo remains with the NHL team.
Colangelo has appeared in four games with the Ducks over the past two seasons, including one game this season.
The Ducks went out and procured several veteran players to bolster the Gulls’ lineup over the offseason and those players have, for the most part, produced.
Top point-getters through 15 games include Jansen Harkins (17 points), Colangelo (15 points), Carpenter (12 points), Roland McKeown (11 points) and Regenda (10 points). The top four players are new full-time players in San Diego.
Who’s next to be called up? Fans can see for themselves.
JC Football
Southwestern College tops Grossmont Griffins in season finale for first on-field win
It’s been a season of frustration and growth for the Southwestern College football team. But one that ended on a positive note.
The Jaguars carried 1-8 record into their regular season finale Nov. 16 against the conference rival Grossmont College Griffins, who were experiencing their own challenging season with an identical 1-8 record.
The difference between the teams?
Grossmont had an actual on-field victory to its credit while Southwestern’s lone win was by forfeit against San Bernardino Valley, which suspended its program at midseason.
The host Jags changed all that with a 28-7 win over their neighbors in East County to close out the season while ushering in hopes for a brighter future. Southwestern finishes 2-8 while Grossmont finishes 1-9.
To the victors belonged a loud chorus of cheers!
First-year SWC head coach Oscar Rodriguez has brought change to the program though the win-loss record doesn’t necessarily show it. The number of participating athletes has doubled this season and, with those numbers in hand, results are sure to follow.
The Jaguars built a 21-0 lead in the regular season finale and offset the Griffins’ lone score with a final touchdown of their own.
The action was fairly close on the field, however, with SWC holding a 245-237 edge in total yards. Grossmont ran 61 plays to 58 for Southwestern.
Each team suffered two interceptions while the Griffs lost two fumbles.
The passing game wasn’t necessarily memorable for either team.
SWC starter Connor Underhill (RBV) completed six of 11 attempts for just 37 yards with two picks while Grossmont’s Matthew Barton (Mt. Miguel) completed 11 of 25 attempts for 88 yards with two interceptions. Jags reserve signal-caller Ethan Gallegos (Brownsville Texas/St. Joseph Academy) was four-for-four with 38 yards with one touchdown.
Southwestern scored three rushing touchdowns to one for the visitors. Xavier Crews (Sweetwater) led the Jags with 70 rushing yards on 17 carries while Underhill navigated 55 yards on 11 carries and Jaheem Williams (Montgomery) had 28 yards on six carries. Each scored one touchdown. Gallegos tacked on 29 yards on six carries.
Isaiah Pressley (St. Augustine) led the Griffins with 85 yards on 19 carries and one touchdown.
Ezriel Noa (Helix) had 36 yards on eight carries while Barton rushed eight times for 27 yards.
Through the air, Tyler Becker (Del Norte) keyed Southwestern with four catches for 38 yards while Josiah Jefferson (Mater Dei Catholic) had one catch for 18 yards.
Karlos Jimenez (Chula Vista) gathered in six catches for 48 yards for the visitors while Ashton Tominson (Rancho Bernardo) had 34 yards on three pass-grabs.
John Butcher (Grossmont) keyed Grossmont with four punts for a 41.0 average while adding a 60-yard kickoff. Savigon Yokley (El Capitan) had a 32-yard kick return for the hosts.
On defense, Ryder Jennings (Christian) and Chris Fewell (Lincoln) each recorded interceptions for Southwestern while Chris Akridge (Mt. Miguel) and Ezekiel Battle (San Diego Cavers) each had picks for Grossmont. Jennings returned the ball 21 yards.
Payton Spratt (Poway) led the Jags with eight tackles while Fewell followed with seven stops.
Mike Porter (Madison) and Keanu Pettiford (Steele Canyon) led the Griffins with 11 and 10 defensive stops, respectively.
SWC women’s soccer team (19-1-1) earns first-round bye in Southern California regional playoffs
Press release
The Southwestern College women’s soccer team. dominant in the 2024 regular season with a solid 13-1-1 record in conference play and an impressive overall record of 19-1-1, received the No. 8 seed and a first-round bye in the state’s Southern California regional.
With 19 sophomores on the roster, the Lady Jaguars are in pursuit of a state championship.
Five Jags were named to the all-Pacific Coast Athletic Conference first team.
Jenica Stell has been voted the 2024 Pacific Coast Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year and named to the All-Regional Offensive Team. Jenica Stell leads the PCAC with 63 points. The Bonita Vista alumna shined throughout the season and with 20 goals in conference play. Stell is currently fourth in the state with 26 goals on the year and sixth in points per game at 3.00.
Defense has been a calling card for Southwestern all season. Pacific Coast Athletic Conference and All Regional Goalkeeper of the Year Aaliya Campbell (Bonita Vista) paces a defense that has compiled a 0.38 goals-against average.
California Community College Team Rankings
Goals Scored: No. 2 in the state (111)
Points: No. 2 in the state (297)
Goals Against: No.5 in the state (8)
Goals Against Average: No. 3 in the state (0.38)
Shutouts: No. 1 in the state (16)
The Santa Monica (16-3-3) defeated Antelope Valley (8-10-3) to advance to the second round against Southwestern on Saturday, Nov.23 at Bonita Vista High School, 7 p.m. start.
The 3C2A state championship provides for a total field of 48 teams, with 24 teams each in the Northern California / Southern California Regional Playoff Brackets
3C2A Soccer State Championship
Southern California Regional Bracket
Northern California Regional Bracket
