by Ana Kieu

sanjosebarracuda.com photo: San Jose Barracuda goaltender Troy Grosenick faced 16 shots and allowed five goals to the Bakersfield Condors in exhibition play at Sharks Ice on Sunday night

SAN JOSE– Alex Schoenborn made his debut with the San Jose Barracuda, who hosted the Bakersfield Condors in an exhibition game in Sharks Ice on Sunday night. The Condors were quick out of the gate, netting their first goal 3:32 into the first period, courtesy of Jaedon Descheneau. San Jose goalie Troy Grosenick reacted late to a low shot from the left circle, allowing Bakersfield to take an early 1-0 lead.

Barracuda forward Alex Gallant was given a two minute penalty for roughing at 9:39. Joey Benik made it 2-0 Condors with a power play goal midway through the first.  Kyle Platzer looked assured in the game as he added another power play goal for the Condors for a 3-0 lead at 14:47. Barracuda defenseman Harrison Ruopp was initially called for tripping at 14:35.

The Barracuda outshot the Condors (16-10), however, Grosenick surrendered two goals on the first six shots on goal. San Jose trailed Bakersfield 3-0 after 20 minutes. Josh Brittain’s first goal of the preseason extended the Condors’ lead to 4-0 at 11:35 of the second period. Four minutes and three seconds later, Bakersfield was up 5-0, courtesy of Scott Allen.

Barracuda defenseman Tim Heed had a couple of clever reads and added pressure to the puck carrier. However, San Jose continued to trail the Condors 5-0 after 40 minutes. While Marcus Sorensen helped the Barracuda avoid a shutout with a last-minute goal with eight seconds left in regulation, San Jose fell 5-1 to Bakersfield in the final exhibition game.

Nothing is more depressing than a tough loss at home, but the lackluster game served as learning experience for the young Barracuda club.When I asked goalie Troy Grosenick if he was going to do anything differently in preparation for Saturday to make a comeback and pick up a win, he simply responded with: “No, I felt like I had a really positive camp and I don’t think this has been indicative of the way things have been going lately and we’re just going to go back to the drawing board on Tuesday.”

“It’s just the preseason,” head coach Roy Sommer said. “I thought we did a lot of good stuff. It wasn’t really a 5-0 game, but we had a lot of good looks. . .I thought our forechecking kept them in there for a while.” The Barracuda will head to Stockton Arena on Saturday to take on the Stockton Heat in their first game of the 2016-17 AHL regular season. In honor of Opening Night, magnetic schedules will be given to the first 1,500 fans in attendance.