Seagulls fight hard but cannot complete their comeback

Oct 5, 2024

By Austin Rush/SanDiegoGulls.com

The San Gulls overcame a 4-1 third-period deficit to fall 5-4 to the Ontario Reign of Pechanga Arena San Diego in tonight's preseason match.

Forward Pavol Regenda scored the first goal tonight when he received a pass from Carson Meyer and sank a backhand shot just into the net at 13:52 of the opening period.

Going into the first intermission with a 1-0 lead, Ontario took a 3-1 lead with a trio of two-pointers^nd Period goals were scored by strikers Tate Singleton and Cater Savoie and defender Luke Rowe.

The Reign extended their lead to 4-1 with an early 3-1^approx Singleton scored his second goal of the night at 1:45 of the frame.

San Diego made its comeback 1:48 later when centerman Ryan Carpenter brought a loose puck forward after a delayed penalty. 1:49 later, forward Josh Lopina scored to pull the Gulls within one point. Right winger Judd Caulfield pushed a cross-ice pass to Lopina, who was wide open at the back door for a yawning cage. Defender Dillon Heatherington scored the second assist. With 6:10 left in regulation time, blueliner Roland McKweon scored the equalizer on the power play. Carpenter secured his third point of the night with the primary assist, while defenseman Rodwin Dionicio scored his first point of the night with the secondary assist.

“I mean, we were two down, so we went into the third round and conceded the fourth goal. But I think the people on the bench, as cheesy as it is, still believe and are still trying to win their shift. As soon as you get one.”, and as soon as you score the four-on-four goal [Josh Lopina]I think it gave us some momentum. “We felt like we had a lot of time to get it under control, and we did,” Carpenter said.

“As a group, it's the first game together, but if you find a way to tie the game together, just stick to the discipline and systems and remind each other what we need to do, especially when the ice gets worse towards the end “I mean, it stinks when we're on the losing side but at the same time we know in the back of our minds that we have to compete and maybe have the ability to come back.”

The fight would not remain a draw for long as Rowe fired a shot from the point that was deflected forward by Francesco Pinelli for the final goal of the evening.

“We showed a lot of character. I think there were a lot of really good moments in terms of playing off an identity and making it difficult to play against,” Gulls head coach Matt McIlvane said. “There were so many great, teachable moments too. Many of our first graders have specific mistakes that are easy to fix. I think we saw a lot of really good things from our team today and a lot to build on.” Moving into next week.

San Diego now has Toronto in its sights for next week's season-opening series against the Marlies.