Gulls win fifth straight

March 1, 2006 - ECHL (ECHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


SAN DIEGO - Patrick Levesque's power-play goal with 2:19 left in regulation broke a 2-2 tie and lifted the San Diego Gulls to their fifth straight victory, this time a 3-2 triumph over the Long Beach Ice Dogs Wednesday night at the ipayOne Center.

Their five-game winning streak extends a season high for San Diego (25-23-5), which remains tied with the Bakersfield Condors for third place in the Pacific Division. Long Beach (30-19-6), which needed only one point to clinch a playoff spot, will have to wait another day. The Ice Dogs are still 11-2-1 in their last 14 road contests.

Doug MacIver, known more for his physical play, gave the Gulls a 1-0 lead 13:39 into first period with his second goal of the season. MacIver, standing at the right point, got a pass from Trent Clark and floated a wrist shot that beat a screened Mark Scally.

San Diego took a 2-0 lead on a Jesse Bennefield power-play goal 35 seconds into the second period. Jonathon Shockey dumped the puck into the Long Beach zone, but it bounced off the end boards right in front of the net. That's where Bennefield picked it up and tucked it home for his team-leading 25th goal, which ties him for the ECHL lead among rookies. Tyler Weiman also earned an assist on the play, his third of the season.

The Ice Dogs, who out-shot San Diego 17-4 in the middle frame, finally got on the board at 13:59 of the second, thanks to Christian Larrivee's team-leading 21st marker. Larrivee hopped on the puck at center ice, weaved his way to the Gulls blue line and beat Weiman on a slapper.

Cory Urquhart tied it 7:01 into the third period with his 15th goal of the year. After grabbing possession in the neutral zone, Urquhart busted into the San Diego zone and poked it over-top a sliding Weiman.

That's how the game stayed until Levesque notched the game-winner, his fifth overall goal. Grady Moore took a pass from Chris Cava and unleashed a slap shot that Levesque redirected past Scally.

Notes: Bennefield has 15 points (6g, 9a) in his last 10 games... San Diego has killed 102 of 112 penalties in the last 19 games (91.1 percent) and has scored power-play goals in seven of its last eight games... 11 of the Gulls' last 15 games have been decided by one goal... They're in a stretch of eight games in 11 days, including two more matches this week... Justin Silver and Trent Clark, Darren Clark's younger brother, were signed to fill Wednesday...

The Gulls continue their four-game homestand with a pair of games against the Las Vegas Wranglers Friday at 7:35 p.m. and Saturday at 7:05 p.m. Friday is Military Appreciation Night and the first 5,000 fans will get a sleeveless T-shirt, courtesy of your San Diego county Toyota Deals. Saturday is Disco Night and 5,000 special "Fro" wings will be handed out, courtesy of Jerome's Furniture.

All games can be heard on KLSD 1360AM and www.sandiegogulls.com with Chris Ello calling the play-by-play. Most games can also be viewed on the Gulls' web site, courtesy of B2 Networks. Click the B2 Networks (Watch the Game Live) link on the home page for a list of the upcoming viewable games. To view pictures from this season, visit www.zerodogentertainment.com.



ECHL Stories from March 1, 2006


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