San Jose Barracuda vs Bakersfield Condors on Saturday October 18th at Dignity Health Arena (via condors/x)

By Madison Montez

The San Jose Barracuda (1-1-0) dropped their first road game of the season with a loss at Mechanics Bank Arena in Bakersfield on Saturday 2-1 losing to the Bakersfield Condors (1-1-0).

After a scoreless first period, Bakersfield was the first to get on the board when Roby Järventie scored his first powerplay goal of the season. Cole Clayton tied the game in the third period to show some fight but Bakersfield ultimately won, scoring again later in the third. Condors Quinn Huston scored his first of the season and his pro career with four minutes left to lead his team to their first win in their home opener.

San Jose nearly dominated outshooting Bakersfield but it wasn’t enough. After the first period, San Jose outshot Bakersfield 7 to 3. After the second period, Bakersfield outshot San Jose 13 to 6. And after the third period, San Jose outshot Bakersfield 9 to 5. This came out to San Jose outshooting Bakersfield 22-21 but Bakersfield still walked away with their first win.

Both teams struggled to stay out of the penalty box, each taking seven penalties throughout the game. It was also a very physical game, with five of those penalties either for fighting or roughing. A fighting penalty taken by Egor Afanasyev is what gave Bakersfield their 1-0 lead in the second. San Jose had three opportunities but didn’t capitalize. Bakersfield had four opportunities and capitalized on one.

For San Jose, Gabriel Carriere got his first start of the season. He made 19 saves on 22 shots with a 0.905 save percentage. After Saturday night’s loss, Carriere’s record will now fall to 0-1. For Bakersfield, Connor Ingram also got his first start of the season. He made 21 saves on 22 shots with a 0.995 save percentage. After tonight’s win, Ingram’s record will move to 1-0.

THREE STARS OF THE GAME:

1. Quinn Huston, 1G
2. Roby Järventie, 1G
3. Connor Ingram, 21 svs on 22 shots

The Barracuda will be back in action on Wednesday October 22nd where they will face the Coachella Valley Firebirds for the first time this season. Last season, San Jose and Coachella went head to head quite a few times, playing each other eight times, San Jose with a 7-1 record against them.