If there was an unstoppable force in Wednesday’s CIF-Metro Conference Kiwanis Cup roller hockey championship game, it — er, he — had a name: Westview High School junior Josh Morrison.
Morrison scored nine goals and tacked on two assists to spearhead the top-seeded Wolverines to a 13-3 victory over third-seeded Cathedral Catholic at the Escondido Sports Center.
It wasn’t difficult to see that Morrison, one of the top players in the conference this season, was motivated. Both Morrison and Westview head coach Ron Smith freely admitted that.
“I lost as a freshman in the championship game, 9-2, to Rancho Bernardo,” explained Morrison, who is also an extremely talented ice hockey player. “This is my last year at Westview, so it was a good way to go out. There’s much to celebrate.”
A member of the Jr. Gulls Midget 18-AAA team, Morrison was recently called up to the San Diego Sabers U20 Western States Hockey League Tier II Junior A team. He plans to move to Omaha in August to pursue further ice hockey opportunities.
“I asked him to be in charge (for this game),” Smith said in regard to Morrison. “I challenged him before the game and he stepped up. Every time I’ve asked him for a favor, he’s stepped up.
“He’s from a good family. He has ice in his veins. He is a leader. He’s always up to the challenge.”
For Smith, it was the first Kiwanis Cup championship in three trips to the finals during his five-year coaching tenure with the Wolverines.
“It feels great,” the Westview coach explained. “A lot of hard work, a lot of practice time went into this. We’re a young team. I’m excited about next year.”
Overall, the Wolverines (17-5) claimed their fifth Kiwanis Cup championship title since entering CIF play in 2005-06. Westview’s other Cup wins came in 2006, 2009, 2010 and 2011. The Wolverines won three conference championships from 2009-11 to match Scripps Ranch’s three consecutive conference championships from 2003-05.
While Morrison led the offensive charge in Wednesday’s highlight reel game, teammate Josh Groll actually scored the first two goals for the Wolverines. And Cathedral Catholic’s Drew Jones – the 2015-16 conference scoring champion – actually scored the first goal in the game.
It would be the first goal in an eventual hat trick for Jones on the night. But the evening belonged almost exclusively to Westview. By the time Jones scored his second goal, the Wolverines had bolted out to a 9-2 lead.
Westview outshot Cathedral Catholic 28-20 in the contest. While not by a huge margin, the Wolverines capitalized on putting away rebound shots and excelling on special teams. Westview collected three power play goals and also scored one short-handed goal to the chagrin of the Dons.
Catheral sophomore goaltender Patrick Henson, a second team all-conference selection, was credited with 15 saves. In Henson’s defense, he was often left defenseless as loose pucks were routinely scooped up by hungry Wolverine players prowling around the crease.
His counterpart at the other end of the rink, Westview freshman Greg Oleynichenko, stopped 17 of the 20 shots he faced.
“Our goalie played tight, he improved from the start of the season,” Morrison said. “Our defense stopped the puck. We had to do that. Every shot was going our way. It was a great day (for us).”
Dallas Oleson, one of two seniors on Westview’s 2015-16 roster (the other being Ian Bellin), called the championship game win “amazing.”
“We put in a lot of hard work at practice,” Oleson said. “It all came down to finishing it at the end of the season to win the championship.
“We definitely came out with a crazy energy and put it to Cathedral. I think they were not able to match our energy after the start of the game.”
Gold rush
The Dons (14-6) jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the game, as Jones scored just 2:17 into the contest off a pass from Adam Stocker.
The Cathedral Catholic lead lasted 1:05 before Groll popped in the first of his two goals on the night. Assists went to Keisi Tayaka and Laurent Lee on the two goals that put Westview ahead 2-1.
More than five minutes would tick off the scoreboard clock before Morrison would hit for his first goal of the game, an unassisted tally. He scored another unassisted goal 40 seconds later and added a power play goal, assisted by Tayaka, with just five seconds left in the opening period.
Morrison’s flurry of three goals to end the period catapulted the Wolverines to a 5-1 lead. And Morrison wasn’t finished. He added a goal just 26 seconds into the second period to put his team up 6-1.
Henson lost a goaltending gamble while trying to smother a loose puck outside the crease, and Westivew’s Bellin won the sprint to the puck and cashed in with an empty net goal to hike the Wolverines’ lead to 7-1 and fan flames to an already hot fire.
Westview scored four goals in the second period. Morrison scored three of them. After Bellin’s goal, Morrison resumed munching on the Dons with goals at the 8:15 and 9:29 marks of the period.
Jones scored with 4:55 and 1:13 left in the period to leave his mark on the game. Assists went to Stocker and Kyle Riddlespurger.
But it was too little, too late.
Trailing 9-3 on the scoreboard after two periods, the Dons coughed up four more goals in the final stanza before the final buzzer put an end to the game.
Oleson scored the opening goal for the Wolverines in the third period, and Morrison closed out the game with three consecutive goals – the final coming with 10 seconds to play in the game.
Morrison closed out an amazing season. He scored 43 goals and tallied 56 points in just 10 regular season games. He tacked on 18 goals in three playoff games to finish the season with 61 goals in 13 games – an average of 4.7 goals per game.
Seven players picked up points in the title game for the newly-crowned champions. Tayaka collected three assists while Groll racked up three points by adding one assist to his two goals. Oleson had a goal and assist while Bellin scored one goal. Oleynichenko also recorded one assist on a through feed to Morrison early in the final period.
Stocker had two assists for the Dons to complement Jones’ hat trick.
Jones finished regular season play with 35 goals and 76 points.
The championship game loss erased the memory of Monday’s semifinal statement win over two-time defending conference champion Rancho Bernardo. The Broncos recorded a pair of tight regular season wins over Cathedral Catholic – 6-5 and 6-4 – but could not duplicate that feat against a Dons team that appeared to be peaking at the right time of the season.
The Dons blanked Holy Cup rival St. Augustine, 11-0, in the quarterfinals before nailing down an impressive 6-3 win over Rancho Bernardo in the ensuing semifinals.
Jones had three goals and three assists in the quarterfinal win and three goals in the semifinal win (along with teammate Sam Angeles). Jones finished the Dons’ three playoff games with nine goals and capped the season with 44 goals, playoff games included.
“Westview was definitely the better team tonight, they kept the momentum on their side,” Cathedral Catholic head coach Luke Storno said up front. “Overall, we had a slow start but we gained some momentum at the middle of the season. When we had a full squad, we came together.
“The (semifinal) game against Rancho Bernardo was a great game. We just couldn’t keep the momentum going for us after that win.”
Cathedral Catholic, which captured this season’s Central League championship with an 8-1 league record, is graduating four seniors: John Leone, Stocker, Riddlespurger and William Devaney.
Westview topped fourth-seeded Scripps Ranch, 6-3, in Monday’s tournament semifinals behind three goals by Groll, two by Morrison and one by Tayaka.
The Wolverines demolished Mesa League champion Otay Ranch, 18-1, in the quarterfinals. Morrison racked up 10 points on seven goals and three assists while Groll had three goals and three assists.
Westview started the season 2-3 but finished the 2015-16 campaign with wins in 15 of its final 17 games.
The Wolverines won two of three games from Rancho Bernardo in North County League play to tie the Broncos with a 7-2 league record. Westview was given the automatic playoff berth based on two wins to RB’s one win in head-to-head league games.
Scripps Ranch topped Escondido Charter, 9-7, in the quarterfinals after recording a runner-up finish to Cathedral Catholic in the Central League standings. Jesse Lycan scored two goals in the semifinal loss to Westview while teammate Stewart Pond had one goal.
Consolation final
In Wednesday’s preliminary third place game, Rancho Bernardo edged Scripps Ranch by a score of 4-3. Bailey Ridout led the victorious Broncos with two goals while Keigo Hachisuka added a goal and assist and Chris White tacked on one goal.
Lycan scored two goals for the Falcons, who also received one goal from Wesley Rim, two ssists from Pond and one assist from London Peters.
Rancho Bernardo outshot Scripps Ranch 18-16.
The Broncos finished the season 17-4; the Falcons finished the season 13-9.
Kiwanis Cup Playoffs
First Round
Monday, Feb. 22
(9) Hilltop vs. (8) Otay Ranch 5, (9) Hilltop 1
(5) Escondido Charter 18, (12) Chula Vista 2
(6) St. Augustine 12, (11) Eastlake 0
(7) Poway 10, (10) West Hills 3
Byes: (1) Westview; (2) Rancho Bernardo; (3) Cathedral Catholic; (4) Scripps Ranch
Quarterfinals
Wednesday, Feb. 24
(1) Westview 18, (8) Otay Ranch 1
(4) Scripps Ranch 9, (5) Escondido Charter 7
(3) Cathedral Catholic 11, (6) St. Augustiner 0
(2) Rancho Bernardo 8, (7) Poway 2
Semifinals
Monday, Feb. 29
(1) Westview (15-5) vs. (4) Scripps Ranch (13-7)
(2) Rancho Bernardo (16-3) vs. (3) Cathedral Catholic (13-5)
Results:
Westview 6, Scripps Ranch 3
Cathedral Catholic 6, Rancho Bernardo 3
Championship Finals
Wednesday, March 2
(1) Westview (16-5) vs. (3) Cathedral Catholic (14-5), 7 p.m.
Result:
Westview 13, Cathedral Catholic 3
Third place game
(2) Rancho Bernardo (16-4) vs. (4) Scripps Ranch (13-8), 6:30 p.m.
Result:
Rancho Bernardo 4, Scripps Ranch 3
Kiwanis Cup
Parade of Champions
2001 – Bonita Vista
2002 – Bonita Vista
2003 – La Jolla Country Day (Scripps Ranch declared conference champion)
2004 – Scripps Ranch
2005 – Scripps Ranch
2006 – Westview
2007 – Rancho Bernardo
2008 – Rancho Bernardo
2009 – Westview
2010 – Westview
2011 – Westview
2012 – Poway
2013 – West Hills
2014 – Rancho Bernardo
2015 – Rancho Bernardo
2016 – Westview
Roller hockey archive website (2001-02 season and earlier):
http://www.geocities.ws/sdprepsports/rollerhockeyfront.htm
California State Cup to roll out March 19-20 at Irvine Inline
The California State Cup is set to roll out March 19-20 at The Rinks-Irvine. Teams from the sponsoring Anaheim Ducks Inline Scholastic League (ADISL) will be competing along side teams from San Diego County, Temecula and the Santa Barbara/San Luis Obispo region, as well as other programs in the greater Los Angeles area.
Two ice hockey teams from Damien High School, which participates in the Anaheim Ducks High School Hockey League, have also committed to play in this year’s State Cup.
Any team representing a California high school or junior high school, public or private, is eligible to enter a team, including ice hockey teams.
Divisions will be split by skill level, according to event director John Paerels, who serves as the coordinator for the ADISL, which includes 24 teams in multiple skill levels centered on Orange County.
The Central Coast High School Hockey League, based in Santa Maria, is sending three inline teams down to Orange County: Santa Barbara Gold, Santa Barbara Blue and San Luis Obispo.
Santa Barbara Gold won the Central Coast High School Hockey League’s recent varsity championship title.
Escondido Charter has also confirmed from the CIF/Metro Conference Two teams from the Temecula Valley High School Hockey League have also confirmed, as has Mesa Verde Middle School form the San Diego District Hockey League.
Woodbridge and Villa Park have confirmed so far from the ADISL.
ADISL playoffs
The final games of the ADISL’s fall/winter regular season schedule wrapped up on March 4, with playoff rounds commencing on March 6.
In a Division 1 Tier 1 semifinal contest, third-seeded El Toro defeated second-seeded Beckman, 6-3, while in a Division 1 Tier 2 semifinal game, fifth-seeded Canyon shut out sixth-seeded Mission Viejo, 6-0.
El Toro benefited from three goals from both Jake Sujishi and Colton Huard and three assists from Travis Alexander in its victory while Marty Torres scored two goals, Nolan Yano and Kyle Mayhew each contributed one goal and one assist in support goaltender Xander Rogers, who stopped all 24 Mission Viejo shots.
El Toro (7-4-0-1) will play top-seeded Laguna Hills (10-1-0-1) in the Division 1 Tier 1 championship game on Wednesday, March 16, to close out the ADISL’s 2015-16 fall/winter championship playoffs.
Prior to that, Canyon (7-6-0-0) advances to meet Santiago (5-4-0-1) in the Division 1 Tier 2 championship game on Sunday, March 13.
In the Division 2 quarterfinals, third-seeded Mater Dei skated past sixth-seeded Edison, 7-4, while fourth-seeded Irvine defeated fifth-seeded Capo Valley, 8-3.
In Mater Dei’s victory, Noah Lachance racked up two goals and one assist while teammates Blaise Johnson and Jake Thomas each scored two goals.
Garrett Bawana, Nathan Craig, Ruslan Patterson and David Marlin led Irvine past Cap Valley on the strength of two goals each.
That set up the following semifinals played later that evening. Top-seeded Fountain Valley eliminated fourth-seeded Irvine, 8-5, as Stephen Stewart and Blake Tallas each registered hat tricks, while second-seeded Marina eliminated third-seeded Mater Dei, 8-2, as Chris Bos Teruya collected two goals and two assists and teammate A.J. Green contributed two goals and an assist.
The division championship game, scheduled Monday, March 14, pits top-seeded Fountain Valley (10-2-1-0) against second-seeded Marina (7-6-0-0).
In Division 3 semifinal games, top-seeded Woodbridge eliminated fourth-seeded Trabuco Hills, 6-3, as Brent Buckland scored three goals and one assist, while second-seeded Newport Harbor eliminated third-seeded Pacifica, 7-2, behind three goals from Chandler Littley and two goals from Griffen Gout.
Top-seeded Woodbridge (10-3-0-0) will meet second-seeded Newport Harbor (9-3-0-1) in the championship game on Tuesday, March 15.
In a pair of Division 4 semifinals:
Fifth-seeded Villa Park overcame an early 1-0 deficit against eighth-seeded Northwood to post a 2-1 comeback win as Joseph Toelkes and Sean Jansky each recorded goals for the Spartans. Jansky’s game-winner came in the third period.
Meanwhile, seventh-seeded El Toro recorded a 7-3 upset win over sixth-seeded Marina as El Toro’s Brady Agor tallied three goals and one assist.
Fifth-seeded Villa Park (6-5-0-2) will face off against seventh-seeded El Toro (4-7-1-1) in the Division 4 championship game on Sunday, March 13.
The top-seeded teams in Division 5 will also meet in the championship round after top-seeded Mission Viejo edged fourth-seeded Marina, 3-2, while second-seeded Santiago eliminated third-seeded Edison, 10-4.
Top-seeded Mission Viejo takes a 10-1-1-1 record into the title game on Sunday, March 13, while second-seeded Santiago is 9-3-0-1.
Top scorers
Ruslan Patterson (Irvine) 44 goals, 7 assists – 51 points
Ian Bast (Fountain Valley) 30 goals, 11 assists – 41 points
Ryan Lothman (Pacifica) 23 goals, 17 assists – 40 points
Jeremy Morgan (Pacifica) 24 goals, 15 assists – 39 points
Paul Selleck (Laguna Hills) 24 goals, 12 assists – 36 points
Brent Buckland (Woodbridge) 22 goals, 13 assists – 35 points
Alec Grace (Laguna Hills) 26 goals, 8 assists – 34 points
Jake Sujishi (El Toro) 28 goals, 3 assists – 31 points
Evan Stapleton (Marina) 22 goals, 9 assists – 31 points
Andrew Stapleton (Marina) 13 goals, 17 assists – 30 points
Top goaltenders
Newport Harbor’s A.J. Roth has turned in a 0.825 save percentage to go with a 9-4 record and three shutouts.
Mission Viejo’s Jason Laird has posted a 2.67 goals-against average to go with a 10-2-1 record.
After the State Cup concludes, there is no rest for the weary as the ADISL will promptly face off its spring league schedule on March 21.
San Diego District Hockey League rolling toward season finish
A total of 22 scholastic teams are competing in the league’s current winter inline season. They include five teams in the varsity division, nine teams in the junior varsity division and eight teams in the junior high division.
Championship games are scheduled March 30-31 to end the season.
The Temecula Valley Golden Bears top the varsity division standings with an 8-0 record in games completed through March 9, followed by the Vista Panthers (5-2), San Pasqual Eagles (5-3), San Marcos Knights (1-7) and the Carlsbad Lancers (0-7).
Vista is 2.5 games behind Temecula Valley in the division standings while San Pasqual is three games behind the division leaders.
Temecula Valley has scored the most goals (70) and allowed the fewest goals (32) in the division thus far. San Pasqual ranks second in goals scored (50) and third ing oals allowed (34) while Vista ranks third in goals scored (41) and second in goals allowed (33).
Temecula Valley’s Joey Maurer and Vista’s Zach Morel are tied for the division scoring lead with 12 goals and 24 points apiece. Temecula Valley’s Christopher Snider are pushing the pair with 16 goals and 22 points while San Pasqual’s Ryan Robinson follows with 12 goals and 19 points.
Nine teams are competing in the junior varsity league. The top six teams are grouped within four games of one other in a competitive race.
Temecula Valley leads the circuit with a 7-0-1 record in games played through March 10. Following in the standings are the Rancho Bernardo Broncos with a 6-1 record. The San Marcos Knights are 5-2-1, followed by the Westview Wolverines (4-3), San Pasqual Eagles (4-4) and Wolfpack (3-4).
Red (2-5), Poway Titans (2-7) and Army-Navy (0-7) round out the division standings.
Temecula Valley has outscored its opponents 87-27 so far this season in seven games while Rancho Bernardo has allowed a league-low 15 goals in seven games.
Temecula Valley’s Jake Maurer leads the division in scoring with 25 goals and 48 points. He is followed by teammate Benjamin Palmer with 17 goals and 26 points.
San Marcos goaltender Shawn Gonsales has appeared in six games, posting a 0.830 save percentage and 2.13 GAA, while San Pasqual’s Ben Smiljkovich has appeared in five games with a 0.820 save percentage and 3.20 GAA.
Rancho Bernardo’s Ethan Shute has appeared in four games, posting a 0.818 save percentage and .280 GAA, while Westview’s Tyler Lee has appeared in five games with a 0.808 save percentage and 3.20 GAA.
The top three teams in the junior high division fall within just two games of the other. The Mesa Verde Eagles are undefeated (8-0) in games played through March 11. They are followed in the standings by Bear Valley Bears (6-1-1) and North District (6-2). The MLK Lions are 4-4 and are four games back. Rounding out the division standings are East District (2-5-1), Heritage (2-6), District (0-3-1) and Roosevelt Wildcats (0-7-1).
Mesa Verde has outscored its opponents 55-13 so far this season.
Noe Santos of North District tops the division in scoring with 16 goals and 25 points. Bear Valley’s Michael Rhinehart is second in the division with 11 goals and 22 points, followed by teammate Bryson Cannon with 13 goals and 20 points.
Mesa Verde’s Kelso Cook has recorded a 0.845 save percentage and 1.80 GAA in four games while North District’s Seth Miszkiewicz has posted a 0.835 save percentage and 2.08 GAA in five game appearances.
Around the state: Bay Area winter league champions crowned
The Silver Creek Sportsplex High School Hockey League wrapped up its 2015-16 winter season with championship playoffs in late February. Division champions included Mitty Gold (Division 1), Leigh Gold (Division 2), Mitty Black (Division 3), Pioneer White (Division 4), Saints Black (Division 5)
Jacob Kim had two goals for Mitty Gold in the 5-3 Division 1 championship game victory against Saints Blue.
In Leigh Gold’s 4-2 Division 2 championship game win over Sobrato Black, Joey Cascarano and Daniel Cascarano each scored two goals while Tarah Thompkins made 21 saves.
Jason Coopersmith scored the game-winning goal early in overtime to lead Mitty Black past Bellarmine B, 3-2, in the Division 3 championship game.
Cole Matthews and Eric Ananmalay each scored two goals in Pioneer White’s 5-3 Division 4 championship game victory against Leigh Green.
Martin Hoffnagle and Cameron Vinzce each scored two goals to pace the Saints Black’ scoring in its 5-2 Division 5 finals win over Leigh White.
Temecula Valley High School League heavy at the top
The Temecula Valley Bears and Murrieta Valley High School are tied atop the league standings with identical 10-1 records. Six teams are competing in the current scholastic inline season in the league.
The Great Oak Wolf Pack follow in the standings with a 6-5 record while Vista Murrieta High School occupies fourth place with a 4-7 record. Chaparral High School is 3-8 while Paloma Valley High School is 0-10 with an additional overtime loss.
Ice Chips:
San Diego Union Hawks end season with 3-2 loss to JSerra Catholic in Ahaheim Ducks High School Hockey League playoffs
The San Diego Union Hawks ended their season with a 3-2 loss to JSerra Catholic Lions in the opening round of the Anaheim Ducks High School Hockey League’s Orange Division junior varsity playoffs March 6 at Yorba Linda ICE.
Charlie Noble scored 56 seconds into the third period on a power play to halve an early 2-0 lead by seventh-seeded JSerra and Matt Voegel scored at the 1:58 mark to make amends for an insurance goal scored by the Lions 27 seconds earlier to account for the 10th-seeded Hawks’ two goals in the game.
Adam Burke and Brett Kaufman picked up assists for the Hawks.
Eastlake’s Jake Powell, Percilla Mayer and Luke Killeen, along with Bonita Vista’s Nick Stark, all were members of the San Diego Union team.
Jack Dwyer, Sean Blackman and Conor Clarke each scored goals for JSerra.
Jacob Ayers stopped 13 of 16 shots for the Hawks while Ricky Bradley stopped 20 of 22 shots for the victorious Lions.
San Diego Union finished 2-12-0 in 14 regular season games to place at the bottom of the 10 team division. The Hawks were outscored 71-28. Noble and Kaufman each led the team with four goals while Burke led the team in both assists (7) and points (8). Kaufman was second with seven points.
Killeen had three goals while Powell had two goals and two assists during the regular season.
The Huntington Beach Oilers finished atop the 10-team division with an 11-1-2 regular season record, followed by Villa Park (10-1-3), Woodbridge (10-3-1), Carlsbad (10-3-1), Palm Springs (7-6-1), Edison (6-7-1), Jserra (6-8-0), Upland Christian (4-6-4), Beckman (2-11-1) and San Diego Union (2-12-0).
Top-seeded Huntington Beach defeated second-seeded Villa Park, 7-2, on March 12 at Anaheim ICE to win the division playoff championship. Ryan Lothman scored two goals to lead the Oilers.
In the Black Division final, also played March 12 at Anaheim ICE, the Corona-Norco Stingrays blanked the Torrance Unified Destroyers, 1-0, on a first period goal by Wyatt Land, assisted by Anthony Hagiu. Cherokee Fox stopped all 25 shots to preserve the win.
American Hockey League Report:
Gulls cool off Heat, win 3-1 to solidify position in Calder Cup playoff chase
The month of March traditionally faces off the race for playoff berths in professional ice hockey. The American Hockey League is no different, and the San Diego Gulls have proven to be one of the league’s greediest teams in terms of amassing wins of late.
The Gulls skated past the visiting Stockton Heat, 3-1, Friday night (March 4) at the Valley View Casino Center to record their fifth consecutive home ice victory and extend their current points streak to six games (5-0-0-1).
The Gulls are 9-2-1 in their last 11 games. They started off March with a win to build on an 8-2-1 showing in February.
The Gulls faced off their inaugural season in San Diego with a 7-1 start and appear to be playing their best hockey of the season as the Calder Cup playoff race heats up.
The hosts scored all three of their goals in a tight 3:18 span early in the second period. Two goals came on the power play to continue a trend that has head coach Dallas Eakins smiling.
The Gulls have scored on five of their last nine power play opportunities.
“That our power play is producing at this time of the season is important,” he told the media after the game. “I like the habits in our game. The players are holding up the values we like in our game. We’ve got to keep that rolling.”
The Gulls out-shot the Heat 34-22, though the teams skated to scoreless standoffs in both the opening and closing periods.
Chris Muller scored his 12th goal of the season on a rebound shot, slipping a shot past Stockton netminder Kevin Poulin, to put the hosts in the lead 1-0 at the 3:25 mark of the second period. Stockton was penalized for back-to-back penalties in a 29-second span almost immediately after Mueller’s tally and the Gulls went on a two-man advantage power play.
Shea Theodore scored on a 5-on-3 advantage to make it 2-0 San Diego, with assists going to Mike Sgarbossa and Brandon Montour. The Gulls kept the pressure up on what became a 5-on-4 man-advantage and Noesen scored on another rebound shot in front of Poulin at 6:43 to extend their lead to 3-0.
San Diego netminder Anton Khudobin stopped 21 of 22 Stockton shots but came up short in his bid to record his first shutout win as a Gull when the Heat’s Emile Pourier scored at 11:47 of the third period.
San Diego improved to 4-2-0-1 against Stockton and remained unbeaten on home ice (4-0-0) against the Heat.
The Gulls improved to 28-20-1-2 on the season with 59 points and a 0.578 points percentage. San Diego continues to surge up the Pacific Division standings, climbing to within 0.28 points percentage of the second place Texas Stars. The Gulls are at present the hottest team in the division after going 7-2-0-1 in their last 10 games.
The Gulls continued two remarkable streaks. They are 23-0-0-1 when scoring the game’s first goal, and the first goal has decided the winner in the Gulls’ last 21 consecutive games, 26 out of the last 27 and 37 out of the last 39.
Mueller has recorded five goals and 10 assists in his last 12 games to lead what has become a surprisingly productive offensive attack. He had a goal and assist in Friday’s win, as did Noesen. Montour picked up two assists.
Theodore was named the game’s first star.
“Our lines are really playing well lately,” explained Noesen, who earned second star of the game honors. “We’ve had four or five goals in the last couple of games. We’re clicking right now. The team is doing well. Any time you can contribute to a win like this, it’s nice.
“We were staying to our game. We had a pretty good start. In the second period, we showed our power, we flexed our muscles a bit. We’re finally settling into our team. We’ve had some big injuries and not everyone in our line-up could play. But we’re filling in the pieces.”
The Gulls played Friday without recently acquired Chris Wagner, who was called up to the Ducks.
Noesen said the Gulls’ current depth has helped the team defuse any roster distress due to call-ups and minor injuries.
“It’s not that bad, really,” Noesen explained. “We have guys who can come into the line-up who can do the same things. It’s good to have depth.
Noesen, in fact, suited up for a recent NHL game before being reassigned to the Gulls. “It was fun crazy but good,” he said.
Noesen received his first call-up last year while in Norfolk. He called his first NHL call-up “meaningful.”
“I had the unfortunate pleasure of having two significant injuries the first two years in my career, so when I got the call, it was meaningful to me in my life. It was good to get a game. Hopefully, there’ll be some more this year.”
The Gulls host the Heat in the second of two back-to-back home games on Saturday (March 5). Face-off is 7:05 p.m.
— Phillip Brents
Gulls drop OT contest to Heat but keep points streak intact
Chris Mueller scored just 56 seconds into Saturday’s game (March 5) to give the Gulls a quick 1-0 lead over the visiting Stockton Heat. But host San Diego had trouble holding onto the lead from there in eventually absorbing a 5-4 overtime loss.
Despite the setback, the Gulls (28-20-2-2) extended their points streak to seven games (5-0-1-1) and remained in playoff position – four points ahead of fourth place San Jose and five points ahead of fifth place Bakersfield.
Stockton improved to 24-23-1-2 with the extra-time win in front of 7,399 San Diego faithful.
The Heat struck for a pair of unanswered goals following Mueller’s first-minute strike to take a 2-1 lead. Turner Elson’s deflected shot off San Diego’s Shane O”Brien tied the game just 2:53 into the opening period. Kenny Morrison then put the visitors up by a goal on a slap shot past Gulls starter Matt Hackett.
But Mike Sgarbossa brought the hosts back into a tie by beating Stockton goaltender Kent Simpson with 7:19 left to play in the first period.
The Heat again struck for a pair of unanswered goals, this time in the second period, to chase Hackett from the contest. Emile Poirer and Hunter Shinkaruk each scored goals to put the visitors ahead 4-2 on the scoreboard. Hackett was removed after making saves on seven of 11 shots.
Anton Khudobin entered the game for the hosts and stopped 18 of 19 shots he faced over the final 39 minutes of regulation play to help the Gulls salvage a point in the Pacific Division contest.
Sgarbossa closed the gap to one goal near the end of the middle period and Mueller scored just 14 seconds into the third period to knot the teams in a 4-4 deadlock.
Simpson made 16 saves in the third period to keep the hosts from doing further damage and rallying for the come-from-behind victory. The Heat put an end to a six-game road losing streak when Poirier finished off a two-on-one rush with teammate Mason Raymond 2:44 into the three-on-three overtime period.
San Diego head coach Dallas Eakins said he felt his team played its most urgent in the third period but just couldn’t get the puck past Simpson.
“I thought we started well and we took our foot off the pedal,” Eakins explained. “They had some opportunities where maybe luck was involved. We thought their third goal should have been a penalty when their guy closed his hand around the puck, and their fourth goal was clearly offiside. Those are the breaks. That’s how it goes and you’ve got to fight through them.
“We had a lot of opportunities to finish and the finish wasn’t there. I thought we had some excellent third period, so many chances to score in overtime, and even in the overtime.
“We let our foot off the pedal about five minutes into the first period and it was an uphill battle.
“In the first period I thought we were ready to play. It wasn’t again until the third that we had one of those coming to Jesus moment after the second period. We went back to what our values were and believed in our team.”
The outcome ended a streak of 21 consecutive Gulls games in which the first goal decided the winner. The Gulls are 23-0-1-1 when scoring first and have yet to drop a game in regulation after scoring the game’s opening goal.
Corey Tropp, recently acquired by the NHL Anaheim Ducks (and assigned directly to the Gulls) in a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks for Tim Jackman, picked up his first point with his new team by assisting on Mueller’s first-period goal.
Prior to joining the Gulls, Tropp had collected 28 points in 51 games for the AHL Albany Devils. The former Michigan State player has 27 points in 148 NHL career games to his credit between the Buffalo Sabres and Columbus Blue Jackets.
On another player note, Mueller moved into the San Diego team scoring lead on the strength of his two goals in the loss.
Poirier earned the game’s No. 1 star with his two goals, including the game-winner. Sgarbossa, who also finished the night with two goals, was named the game’s No. 2 star while Shinkaruk, with a goal and assist, earned the game’s No. 3 star.
Shane O’Brien picked up two assists for the Gulls while Simpson was credited with 41 saves for the Heat.
Prior to Poirier’s game-winner, the hosts threatened to end the game first on a pair of solid scoring chances.
— Phillip Brents
