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San Diego Back in Second Place

March 24, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


SAN DIEGO –– Cris Classen picked a good time to notch his first shutout in a San Diego uniform. The Gulls were coming off two straight losses, but Classen along with R.J. Enga lifted them back into second place with a big 4-0 win over the Anchorage Aces Sunday, before 6,771 at the Sports Arena.

With the win, the Gulls (41-20-4) flip-flop in the standings with the Bakersfield Condors, their first round opponent in the Taylor Cup Playoffs. The Blue and Orange now have 86 points and two games in hand on the Condors, who have 85 points.

Classen, whose only other career shutout came last season in the East Coast Hockey League, finished with 20 saves. His counterpart Ryan Person, who was more spectacular in net, turned aside 45 shots in a losing effort. Enga, who punched in a pair, Bruce Watson and David Neale were the only ones to find the back of the net.

Enga notched his first of the night just 1:43 into the game. Robb Wismer fed Enga, whose slap shot from the left circle was steered away by Person. Dan Cousineau jumped on the loose puck at the right boards and flung it toward the net. Person juggled the shot and dropped a rebound right to Enga, who banked it home.

Physicality was the theme of the waning moments of the first, as two separate fights broke out in the Aces zone. Watson went after Ty Jones and, while they were scrapping, Anchorage's Jason Modopoulos joined in. Mike Garrow came to Watson's aid and battled Modopoulos, who was ejected for being the third man in. Both Jones and Garrow were also given game misconducts. All of this happened with 1:07 left in the first period.

Things calmed down in the second period and the Gulls went back to work, scoring a shorthander at 7:12 to go up 2-0. Samy Nasreddine grabbed the puck deep in his own zone and patiently found Enga, who skated in all alone and beat Person glove-side for his second of the game – 26th of the season.

Watson put the game away with his fifth tally 3:40 into the third period. Wide-open in the slot, Watson took a pass from Dean Tiltgen and wristed a shot that just trickled between Person's pads. Neale added another insurance marker – his sixth goal of the year – at 18:52.

Notes: Trevor Koenig, who got a rest tonight, is still four wins away from 100 in his Gulls career... Sylvain Deschatelets got his seven-game point streak snapped tonight... The Gulls have outscored Anchorage 60-24 this season and 34-9 at the Sports Arena... San Diego has gone 33-10-3 since starting the year 8-10-1... Martin St Amour was back behind the bench tonight after serving a seven-game suspension... Gulls leading scorer Mark Pederson remains out with a groin injury. He's expected to be out for at least another week... Kevin Grant remains on injured reserve... Marc Busenburg and Rob Voltera remain with the American Hockey League's Hershey Bears...

San Diego now embarks on its final road trip of the regular season, which begins with three games in Boise, Idaho. The Gulls and Steelheads face off against each other Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, with each game beginning at 6 p.m. (PST). The Blue and Orange finish the trip in Long Beach on Wednesday, April 2 before returning home. All games can be heard live on 1130AM-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.

* On Friday, the game will broadcast live on 1360AM-KPOP



ECHL Stories from March 24, 2003


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