Falcons Rally to Beat Gulls

Published on November 13, 2002 under ECHL (ECHL)
Fresno Falcons News Release


SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Austin de Luis scored the game-winning goal with just over a minute left in regulation as the Fresno Falcons rallied for a 5-4 victory over the San Diego Gulls Tuesday night at the San Diego Sports Arena. Mike Mathers and Kevin Haupt each chipped in a pair of goals and four different Falcons tallied three points as the team snapped their three-game losing streak.

R.J. Enga put the Gulls on the board first with his goal just 1:49 into the contest. Mathers responded for the Falcons with his first goal of the evening exactly one minute later. The Gulls managed to go back on top with the first of two goals by Dean Tiltgen and took a 2-1 lead into the second period.

San Diego increased their lead to 3-1 midway through the second period when Tiltgen scored his second goal of the night 8:44 into the second period. Fresno cut the lead back down to one on Haupt's first goal in a Falcons sweater at the 11:17 mark of the second period. With the Gulls nursing a one-goal lead in the third period, the Falcons erupted for a pair of goals by Mathers and Haupt to jump out in front 4-3. Then with three minutes left in regulation, Sylvain Deschatelets tied the game for the Gulls with his first goal of the year, appearing to send the game into a shootout. As the game neared the end of regulation, de Luis managed to net his fifth goal of the season to complete the comeback and give Fresno the one-goal victory over their cross-state rival.

Mathers finished the night with two power play goals and assist for three points, as did de Luis who had a pair of assists to accompany his game-winning goal. Kris Porter and Drew Schoneck each had three assists in the victory. Goaltender Terry Friesen made 28 saves to snap a personal two-game losing streak. The Falcons also performed well on special teams, converting on two of their five power play chances while stopping the Gulls on all five of their man advantages.

The win moves the Falcons record back above the .500 mark at 6-5-0 with 12 points. The victory also broke them out of tie with the Long Beach Ice Dogs for fourth place in the WCHL standings and catapulted them into a tie with Bakersfield Condors for second place in the standings, still five points behind the front running Idaho Steelheads. With their mark of 5-6-1, the Gulls are off to their worst start in franchise history and sit one point back of the Falcons in third place.

The team will now begin a two-game set with the Condors, beginning on Friday, Nov. 15, at 7 p.m. at Centennial Garden in Bakersfield. Friday's game will be tape delayed on 103.1 FM, The Mountain Cat, starting at approximately 10:30 p.m. They will return home on Saturday, Nov. 16, to complete the series with the Condors at 7:30 p.m. The first 5,000 fans at Saturday night's game will receive a free pair of ThunderStix, courtesy of Pelco. Tickets to Saturday night's game are available at the Selland Arena box office, all Ticketmaster locations, or on-line at www.ticketmaster.com.



ECHL Stories from November 13, 2002


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central