Alaska Ends San Diego's Win Streak, 2-1

Published on March 14, 2005 under ECHL (ECHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


SAN DIEGO – B.J. Young and Mike Clarke each scored before 12 minutes had ticked off the game clock, but their goals were enough to lift the Alaska Aces to a 2-1 victory over the San Diego Gulls Sunday night at the Sports Arena.

Despite outshooting their opponent for only the fourth time since the all-star break, the Gulls (31-23-6) found themselves stymied by Alaska netminder Peter Aubry, who made 34 stops in the contest. Brian Gornick got a goal back for San Diego in the second period, but it wasn't enough to squeeze past the first-place Aces (38-16-7). The loss, coupled with Fresno's 4-1 setback to Bakersfield, keeps San Diego seven points behind the Falcons for the fourth and final playoff spot with 12 games left. San Diego remains one point behind the fifth-place Idaho Steelheads, who were idle on Sunday.

Young wasted no time getting the Aces an early 1-0 advantage, finding the net on his team's first shot of the night at 3:03 in the opening frame. Young was in perfect position at the right post to deflect Mike Scott's shot from above the left-wing circle into the net for his 11th goal of the season.

The Aces doubled up later in the period when Clarke capitalized on a miscue by the Gulls to notch his second goal of the year. After San Diego failed to clear the puck out from their zone, Chris Heisten's shot deflected off Clarke's leg and behind San Diego goaltender Eddy Ferhi's legs to give Alaska a 2-0 lead at 11:12.

San Diego cut the deficit to one with Gornick's goal at 2:22 in the second period. From in front of the net, Gornick deflected Guillaume Fournier's shot through Aubry's pads for his team-leading 21st goal of the season.

Needing an equalizer, the San Diego offense kept the shots coming but was flustered by Aubry, who stopped all 14 of the Gulls' attempts in the third period to seal the deal for the Aces.

Notes: The Gulls are 22-3-1 this season when scoring four-plus goals in a game, but just 9-20-5 when scoring three or less... They have only out-shot their opponent four times since the all-star break (23 games)... San Diego is 10-12-2 in its last 24 games... Since the all-star break the Gulls are 5-2-1 at home and 5-9-1 on the road... San Diego finished the regular season 5-3-2 against Alaska... Nick Ganga (knee) and Evgueni Nourislamov (thumb) remain on the injured list...

San Diego continues its homestand with three games next weekend. The Gulls will host the Long Beach Ice Dogs Friday and the Las Vegas Wranglers Saturday, with both games starting at 7:05 p.m. They'll also play host to Las Vegas Sunday, March 20, with game-time set for 5:05 p.m. Friday's game is Military Appreciation Night and the first 5,000 fans in attendance will receive a Gulls floppy hat, courtesy of your San Diego County Toyota Dealers. Saturday is "80s Night" and the first 6,000 fans will get a Gulls tank top, presented by San Diego Fitness. The Sunday, March 20 game is Kids Night, featuring "Skate with the Gulls" immediately following the contest.

All games can be heard live on KLSD 1360AM and www.sandiegogulls.com with Chris Ello calling the play-by-play. All home games and all but one remaining road game (March 26 in Long Beach) can be viewed on the Gulls' web site, courtesy of B2 Networks. Click the B2 Networks link on the home page for a list of the upcoming telecasted games. To view pictures from this season, visit www.sdgullsphotos.com and www.zerodogentertainment.com.

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ECHL Stories from March 14, 2005


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