Gulls Beat Ice Dogs; Two Points Away From Clinching Second

April 2, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


LONG BEACH, Calif. -- The San Diego Gulls are only two points away from clinching second place. That's after a 3-2 whitewashing over the Long Beach Ice Dogs Wednesday night, before 924 at the Long Beach Arena. The Gulls have now beaten their So Cal rival 12 straight times.

San Diego (43-21-5) is two points ahead of the Bakersfield Condors, and needs only two more points in its final three games to officially clinch the second seed and home-ice advantage in the first round of the Taylor Cup Playoffs. The Gulls also have three more wins than the Condors, which clinches them the tiebreaker if both finish with the same amount of points. Bakersfield only has two games left, both against the first-place Idaho Steelheads.

Dennis Purdie got things started for the Blue and Orange with his eighth goal 4:48 into the game. Kevin Grant fired a hard, low slap shot from the point that rookie netminder B.J. Boxma saved. Sylvain Deschatelets, however, picked up the rebound and tapped it to a wide-open Purdie, who banged it into an empty net.

The Gulls gained a 2-0 lead on a power-play goal from Dean Tiltgen 7:46 into the second period. Miguel Delisle chased the puck out of the corner and fed Mike Garrow, whose blast from the point was again saved but not controlled by Boxma. Tiltgen pounced on the rebound in front of the net and put home his 26th goal of the season.

Cory Cyrenne put the game away with his 13th tally at the 2:19 mark of the third period. Tiltgen stole the puck in the corner and centered a pass to Cyrenne, who one-timed it in.

Trevor Koenig, winless in five of his last six games (1-3-2) coming into tonight turned aside 25 shots. The all-star netminder was 10:14 away from posting another shutout, but the Ice Dogs (21-44-4) came back with two goals to make things interesting.

Former Gull Trent Clark, who was traded by San Diego last month, notched his 12th goal at 9:46 of the third after taking a pass from Mike Kelleher. Then with one minute left, Tyler Willis potted his 12th with Clark earning his second point of the night with an assist. But that would do it as the Gulls held on for the one-goal victory.

Notes: Koenig is two wins away from 100 in his Gulls career... Mark Pederson, still on injured reserve, was named to the All-WCHL team yesterday... San Diego has outscored Long Beach 59-23 this season and 46-16 during the last 12 games... The Gulls finished 20-12-4 on the road this season, marking the sixth time they've finished with 20-plus wins away from the Sports Arena... Marc Busenburg and Rob Voltera remain with the American Hockey League's Hershey Bears

San Diego closes out the regular season with three home games this weekend. The Anchorage Aces come to town Friday and Saturday nights, with both games starting at 7 p.m. The first 5,000 fans at Friday's game will receive a Gulls visor, courtesy of City's Ace Rent-A-Car. On Saturday, the first 5,000 fans will get a Gulls beach towel, presented by AutoTrader Magazine. San Diego will host Long Beach Sunday at 5 p.m., which is also the last "McDonald's Night." All games can be heard live on AM1130-KSDO with Chris Ello calling the play-by-play.

The Gulls' Internet radio show broadcasts live every Tuesday from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. on wsradio.com with Tera Black and Jeremy Zager hosting.



ECHL Stories from April 2, 2003


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