The San Diego Gulls (2-6) are back from a four-game road trip in Canada and hosting the Abbotsford Canucks (4-3-0-1) for a two-game that begins Saturday night in Pechanga Arena.
The Gulls are coming off of 4-3 and 6-2 losses at Calgary and will be playing their second and third home games of the season. The team showed fight in Tuesday’s loss at Calgary and have shown comeback ability in each game this season.
First periods have been a problem.
“They have a good goalie, they’re a hot team, but I think we played the first 12 or 14 minutes, we really played right and got the puck in their zone, put it north, hard direct game, hunted the puck, I think that’s probably our best period (of the season),” forward Sam Colangelo said. “But when you don’t win it’s hard to have moral victories. But I think that’s something we can look back on in a few weeks, months, and build off of.”
USD opens Wednesday
Steve Lavin and the University of San Diego men’s basketball team open a new season Wednesday night against Rider.
The Toreros beat Division II Sonoma State 73-61 in Friday nights exhibition at Jenny Craig Pavilion. Lavin and his staff, which now includes former UCLA and NBA star Earl Watson, are trying to develop a new rotation after the departure of several key players, including the squad’s top four leading scorers: Deuce Turner, Wayne McKinney III, PJ Hayes and Kevin Patton Jr.
The Toreros return center Steven Jamerson II and wing Dragos Lunga and bring in a talented freshman point guard from Detroit in Chas Lewless. St. Katherines transfer Kody Clouet and sophomore Keyon Kensie Jr. scored 17 points apiece on Friday; sophomore Joey Chaamaa added 12.
“We have 14 underclassmen,” Lavin said. “The youth movement continues as for the second consecutive season we’ll have the youngest team in program history. Another nine newcomers, same number as a season ago.”
In an era of NIL and transfer portal movement, Lavin and his staff are attempting to build a program that reflects USD’s values.
“Nine fresh faces in the fold,” Lavin said. “Our staff has been focused on building chemistry while blending the newcomers and returners. The group is gradually acclimating to one another as it’s a process to developing a cohesive team giving the departure of some key personnel from last season.”
Seals open training camp
The San Diego Seals are coming off a strong season in the National Lacrosse League (14-7) and gunning for the club’s first championship.
The club opened training camp this week and host their first game December 1 against Philadelphia.
The Seals lost leading scorer Austin Staats, who is facing a league suspension following an offseason arrest, but return several key players including faceoff specialist Trevor Baptiste and forward Wes Berg.
“I’ve been waiting quite a while for this week to get here and I’m excited to get to work,” Seals coach and general manager Patrick Merrill said. “I expect this to be our most competitive training camp to date and I know the guys are looking forward to the challenge.”