Sam Fuld this. Sam Fuld that. Everyone is talking about Sam Fuld and how he’s going to be an impact player this year for the A’s.
Well, he is. It’s all-true.
Fuld is a six year vet with playing time spent with both the Cubs and the Rays but he’s come into this first year with the A’s as if he has something to prove to the club, the team and himself.
He’s already endearing himself to all A’s fans as his barely missed inside-the-park homer had the crowd going wild. Also his two diving catches within the past week have proven to the A’s faithful that he’s here and ready to make an impact.
In only four games and 18 at bats, Fuld has four hits, which includes two triples and two RBIs. It’s too early to tell if he’s going to keep his .222 average for the year but his On-Base Percentage of .707 is something that the A’s have to be proud of.
When talking to Alex Espinoza of MLB.com, Bob Melvin said “I knew he was a good player but he’s probably an even better player than I thought. He does a lot of things that don’t show up in the box score.”
The only issue that can come about with Fuld is when injured Craig Gentry return’s to the line up. Where will Fuld go? If Gentry gets back in, Fuld can opt out of his contract on June 1 and make himself available to any team.
The question is – what should the A’s do? Should they option Fuld to AAA? Or should they just let him walk? What if Gentry under performs and Fuld excels on some other team?
It’s a hard decision to make and way above my pay grade but if I had to take a shot, I’d option him to AAA and keep him on a short leash. It’s not everyday you have a 32 year old coming into a new organization and hitting on all cylinders.
SAN JOSE – The San Jose SaberCats (2-2) were defeated by reigning AFL MVP Erik Meyer and the Spokane Shock (2-1), 73-62. Meyer had an impressive night as he ran for four touchdowns and threw for over 250 yards. Russ Michna got the start after being out for the last two games had a great game himself. He threw for 352 yard and eight touchdowns. Unfortunately he also threw three interceptions that resulted in 14 points for Spokane. All Star candidate Reggie Gray caught eight passes for 75 yards and five touchdowns.
“We’re going to have to watch the tape and practice. More practice is going to fix it,” said Head Coach Darren Arbet on the loss tonight. “We have to regroup, practice and believe in each other and continue to play hard.”
Speaking on Spokane, Arbet said, “The way we played tonight it’d be tough to beat anyone in this league. Spokane is a good football team. It’s a long season we just have to practice and get better.”
On his return to the field Michna said, “It felt good to be back on the field but it was an ugly night though. A lot of things happened that don’t happen to us often. We just have to get better. I was disappointed with my performance but we turned the ball over four times and I had three interceptions. I can’t name the last time I threw the ball to the other team that many times.”
Spokane got on the board with less than 30 seconds gone in the first when Meyer found a streaking Mike Washington on a nice 19-yard pass. The SaberCats hopped on the field and went for a deep pass to start the game but Michna over threw the speedy Rod Harper. The five plays later Michna threw a pass down the middle of the field that was tipped in the air by the Shocks Terence Moore who was able to grab the ball and give it back to Spokane. The Shock then worked five minutes off the clock and found Terrance Carter on a 15 yard strike to give the Shock a 14-0 lead with a little over seven minutes left in the first. On the SaberCats next possession, Michna found Reggie Gray from 15-yards out for the SaberCats first score of the night.
The second quarter felt like an old west shoot out. There was a total of 63 points scored including three rushing touchdowns by Meyer for Spokane and a pair of touchdowns to both Gray and Rod Harper on the SaberCats. The Cats seemed to have the momentum going into their favor as one of Gray’s touchdowns happened with only 17 seconds left in the half but then Terrance Sanders ran the ball back off of Nick Pertuit’s kickoff and gave the Shock a 49-35 lead.
San Jose had the ball to start the third but then when Michna was working in the pocket he was hit and was picked off again by Moore to turn the ball back over to Spokane. Fortunately for the Cats, they were able to hold Spokane to zero point off the turnover as SPokane kick Taylor Rowan hit the bar and turned the ball back to San Jose. After getting the ball back, Michna found Gray again for his fourth touchdown of the night and brought the lead to a manageable seven point deficit. However Meyer was able to find Washington for a deep 41-yard bomb to make it 56-42 game after three quarters.
Michna tossed his third interception of the game on his first pass of the quarter and gave the ball back to Spokane. Again Meyer was able to take the ball into the end zone himself and made it a 63-42 game. Michna found Gray yet again for his fifth touchdown and 14th touchdown of the season to bring it back down to a 14 point lead for Spokane. Spokane drove down the field again and settled for a field goal but by this time it already seemed like the wind was knocked out of the SaberCats. They were able to get a pair of touchdowns from J.J. Payne and Huey Whittaker but the SaberCats still fell by 11 points with a final score of 73-62.
The Cats will stay home this week and practice as coach continued to say and will face the Arizona Rattlers next Saturday at 7:30 pm.
Oakland Athletics center fielder Coco Crisp is congratulated after hitting a walk off home run during the twelfth inning of a baseball game against the Seattle Mariners, Thursday, April 3, 2014, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Beck Diefenbach)
By Kahlil Najar
OAKLAND – Coco Crisp hit his first walk off home run of his career in the bottom of the 12th inning to give the A’s (2-2) a 3-2 win over the previously undefeated Seattle Mariners (3-1).
“I was just going up there to swing as hard as I could. Probably nine times out of 10, I ended up with a strikeout with that approach. Tonight was that one time that it ended up working out. I’m not going to have that as my everyday approach but I’m just grateful that it worked out tonight,” said Crisp on his game winner. Head Coach Bob Melvin said, “That was his intent, and that’s tough to do. Going up there trying to hit a home run especially when you’re a leadoff-type guy.” Then when asked about Coco’s power and if many teams take his power for granted Melvin said, “Some teams do. But we don’t.”
Jesse Chavez took the mound for the A’s tonight for his first official game of the year after leading the majors in wins in Spring Training and he performed well. Chavez scattered five hits over six innings and struck out four Seattle batters and only walked two.
The start of the game didn’t look like it was going the A’s way as Alberto Callaspo; who was starting at first for the first time in his career, let a grounder from Almonte go through his legs and the ball ended up in short right field. Nick Punto who was playing second tonight went to back up the ball but after he picked it up, he threw the ball wide to Callaspo who had hustled back to first and gave the A’s their second error on the very first batter of the game and landed Almonte at second.
The Mariners capitalized on this error when after a Brad Miller fly out moved Almonte to third, Robinson Cano hit a hard grounder to A’s second basemanb Nick Punto who tossed him out at first but allowed Almonte to score and gave the Mariners a 1-0 lead. Seattle scored again the top of the fifth when Almonte hit a single into center field that scored Logan Morrison who had singled earlier in the inning and gave the Mariners a two run lead.
The A’s had been held hit-less into the bottom of the fifth until Punto smacked a sharp single to left field. With the momentum switching, Punto stole his first base of the year and landed at second with new fan favorite Sam Flud up to bat.
Fuld didn’t disappoint as he hit a line drive into center field that Almonte dived for but missed and allowed Punto to score from second. The ball traveled so far on the ground that it looked like Fuld would have his first career inside-the-park home run but with some great fielding by the Mariners they were able to pick him off at home and only give the A’s one run. Umpire Crew chief Fieldin Culbreth called for a replay review of the play at the plate to see if Zunino was in violation of the collision rule and gave Fuld a lane to get to home plate. The review proved that Zunino wasn’t in the way and confirmed the out and end the inning.
The A’s waited until the bottom of the Eigth to tie the game at two when Yoenis Cespedes hit his first triple of the year and scored Coco Crisp who had walked at the beginning of the inning.
After the issue with Jim Johnson and the longevity of the games over the past two days, Melvin brought in Sean Doolittle for the ninth and tenth inning and he only gave up one hit on 20 pitches and kept the game tight.
In the bottom of the twelfth Coco Crisp hit his first homer of the year and his first walk off homer ever into right field off of newly entered Seattle pitcher Hector Noesi.
New guys Sam Flud and Nick Punto impressed the crowd and Melvin tonight with their tremendous play.
“They both run the bases well and in the field. They were key to the win today and usually you need vets to come off the bench but these guys performed well,” said Melvin.
In addition to his almost inside-the-park homer, Flud had an amazing diving catch to end an inning and Punto had a head-first slide into first to load the bases.
The A’s and Mariners head back at it tomorrow night when Oakland’s Dan Straily takes on the Mariners Chris Young, game time 7:05 pm PST.
PITTSBURGH –The San Jose SaberCats (2-1) were unable to complete a two point conversion with under three seconds left in the game to lose a tight game 48-47 to the Pittsburgh Power (1-1). Outstanding rookie quarterback Nathan Stanley was able to pull the Cats within the last minute of play as he was able to connect on two touchdowns to Reggie Gray who continued to prove that he deserves the nickname Big Play.
The SaberCats played catch up the entire game. The Power started off with three straight touchdowns from Power QB Tommy Grady which included two passing touchdowns to Prechae Rodriguez and a rushing touchdown of his own to give the power a 21-0 lead after one quarter of play. The Cats were able to get on the board in the second quarter on a five yard pass from Stanley to Huey Whittaker to give the Cats their first points of the game but the Grady found Rodriguez again for two more scores to give Rodriguez four touchdowns in the first half and make it a 35-7 lead for the power. Before the half ended JJ Payne contributed a rushing touchdown and David Hyland made a recovery off the net on the kickoff and dove three yards into the end zone for a touchdown which brought the score to 35-20 at the half.
In the second half, the Cats and Power traded a pair of touchdowns and after the Powers last score Stanley moved the offense down the field where he found Gray from eight yards out in the end zone and brought the game to a seven point deficit. Then on an onside kickoff attempt Marc Scheichl recovered the ball for San Jose and gave the Cats the ball back with 45 seconds left on the clock. Stanley brought the team down again and found Gray for an amazing one-handed over-the-wall touchdown with three seconds left in the game. After the touchdown, the Cats decided to go for the win instead of playing for overtime and Stanley was unable to connect with Willis and brought the score to the final of 48-47.
Stanley had a good game overall as he threw for 260 yards and five touchdowns however his three interceptions proved extremely costly in his first loss of his professional career. Reggie Gray continued to show his magic on the field and he contributed two touchdowns and 126 yards receiving. Huey Whittaker only had 19 yards receiving however those yards netted him three touchdowns on the night.
The SaberCats head home for a game this coming Friday against the Spokane Shock at the SAP Center at 7:30pm PST.
SAN FRANCISCO – A’s pitcher Jesse Chavez (5-1, 2.22 ERA) looked great in his seventh appearance of spring training and beat the San Francisco Giants, 4-1. Chavez continued his domination during spring training as he took a no-hitter into the bottom of the fifth inning until Angel Pagan hit a double to get the Giant’s their first hit of the game. John Jaso and Sam Fuld provided the offensive power for the A’s tonight while the Giants were only able to score one run in the bottom of the ninth.
“It was a good one to finish off like that and go into the season and build off of that one,” said Chavez on the win tonight. “Getting ahead was key for me tonight. If you can get ahead, you’re more than likely to succeed.”
On Chavez, Coach Bob Melvin said “Jesse’s been really sharp and efficient this spring. He had a really good cutter tonight and mixed his curve ball in just enough to slow him down a bit. He was on the corners all night.”
Tonight’s win solidified Chavez as a bona fied starter in the A’s rotation and gives the Oakland faithful something to be grateful for after losing Jarrod Parker for the season. When asked about being a starter and how to keep it going, Chavez said, “I can’t get complacent. I still have to stay after it and keep doing what I’m doing and not change anything. I’ve been able to focus a lot more knowing that I have to go through line up three or four times. I’m happy that they have the confidence in me to put in me in the rotation and I don’t want them to think they made the wrong decision.”
“This is something he’s always strives for is to be a starter. He’s earned, he deserves it and you can see his confidence grows each time he goes out there,”said Melvin echoing his confidence in Chavez.
On offense, Oakland’s John Jaso hit his first homer of spring training on a first pitch 2-seam fast ball from Tim Lincecum (1-1, 5.79 ERA) to give the A’s a 1-0 lead in the third.
In the top of the fourth, the Giants biggest fear came to reality when Daric Barton hit a shot into Lincecum’s left leg and immediately dropped him. After stretching on the ground and taking time to make sure nothing was broken, the Giants were able to get Lincecum to get off the field with some help from the trainers. Luckily it was a left knee contusion and x-rays didn’t find anything.
“You never want anybody to see get hit by a come backer especially someone of his caliber,” said Chavez.
In the fifth, Jaso walked, Nick Punto doubled and Daric Barton walked to get the bases loaded for spring training phenom Sam Flud. Flud didn’t disappoint as he took a 2-seam fastball to right field past the out-stretched body of Brandon Belt and into the deep part of right field that Hunter Pence had to scoop up and relay to home. By the time the ball reached home Flud was standing at third and had three more RBI added to his stat sheet to give the A’s a 4-0 lead.
The Giants were able to break up the no-hitter that Chavez had going into the sixth when Angel Pagan hit a double to A’s left fielder Yoenis Cespedes. After the hit, Melvin pulled Chavez ended his night with 5 1/3 innings pitched with one hit, one walk and five strike outs.
“I don’t normally take out guys of potential no-hitters,” Melvin said. “At the time, I was almost glad that Pagan got the hit, to tell you the truth. But it was impressive. He was on it all night.”
The Giants were able to get to A’s closer Jim Johnson for one run in the bottom of the ninth but then he settled down and got Sanchez to fly out to Flud to end the game.
Both teams head to the other side of the Bay to continue the Bay Bridge series in Oakland when Dan Strailey takes on the Giant’s Edwin Escobar, game time 1:05 pm.
In a battle between a two and three seed, the California Golden Bears held off the feisty Arkansas Razorbacks 75 -64. Ca was led by Jabari Bird who scored 19 points and David Kravish who tossed in 13 points and snagged eight rebounds . Tyrone Wallace poure in 16 points and Senior Justin Cobbs scored 9 in his final game at Haas Pavilion. The Bears now face top-seeded SMU this Wednesday in Dallas.
The Razorbacks didn’t start strong today but came back late in the second half when they went on a 20-7 run but was ultimately stopped by the Bears. Arkansas’ Rashad Madden was the start of the night for the Razobacks as he has 15 points and five rebounds. Freshman phenom Bobby Portis started off by scoring the Razorback’s first eight points and ended with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Cal started off fast thanks to Cobbs who was controlling the tempo early and had half of Cal’s points five minutes in the game. The Razorbacks made it tight when the brought the lead down to five but then the Bears went on a 16-0 run and were up 31-8 with under five minutes left in the first half.
In the second half, the Bears were ahead by 21 points with 15 minutes left to play but then the Razorbacks got their own hot streak when they went on a 20-7 run and brought the lead all way down to eight but Cal’s Wallace was able to make four free throws and Cobbs got a well timed basket and gave the Bears their first visit to the NIT quarterfinals in 14 years.
TEAM NOTES
· With tonight’s 75-64 victory over Arkansas, the Bears have reached the NIT quarterfinals for the fourth time in school history. Cal is now 14-6 all-time in the NIT.
· Cal’s 15-point halftime lead tonight was its largest at the break since it led Furman 43-25 at halftime on Dec. 28
· The Bears shot .55.3 percent from the field, their highest clip since Jan. 18 against Washington State.
PLAYER NOTES
Senior Guard Justin Cobbs
· With six assists, moved into a tie with Jerome Randle for second place on Cal’s all-time list with 524 in his career
· With nine points Monday, now has 1,451 in his career. Cobbs is in 11th place on Cal’s all-time scoring list
Freshman Guard Jabari Bird
· Scored 19 points, the second-highest total of his career and most since scoring a career-high 24 vs. Oakland on Nov. 15
· Set a career-high with eight rebounds
Junior forward David Kravish
· With three blocks, now has 72 blocks this season, building on his own single-season record For his career, Kravish has 176 blocks, which ranks second in school annals.
Portland, Oregon – The San Jose SaberCats (1-0) manhandled the Portland Thunder (0-1) in front of the Thunders first ever home game at the Moda Center and beat them 64-34. The SaberCats offense was powered by Reggie Gray who had an impressive offensive showing as he went for 102 yards and 4 touchdowns on only six catches. SaberCats quarterback Russ Michna went 12 for 16 for 166 yards and five touchdowns and left the game at halftime after he gave the SaberCats a 37-27 lead. Nathan Stanley finished the game at quarterback for San Jose and went eight for 14 for 89 yards with three touchdowns.
Portland started the game strong as they were able to score on their first ever possession when University of Oregon alumni Darron Thomas found his way into the end zone and gave Portland the 7-0 lead. However the SaberCats were able to answer back when Michna found Gray for a 16-yard strike and tie the game up at seven. Then after a defensive stop by the SaberCats, Michna found Rod Harper for an 11-yard reception and gave the SaberCats a 13-7 lead after one quarter of play.
In the second quarter, Michna connected for three touchdowns including two to Gray and one to Jason Willis. Michna also found his second favorite target of the game Harper four times in the second quarter. Harper ended the game with 105 yards on 10 catches and two touchdowns. Portland also scored three times in the quarter including their first ever pass touchdown on a nice play from quarterback Nathan Enderle who found Jeffre Solomon for a 32-yard score but ended with a missed extra point and bring the score to 37-27 at halftime.
After halftime the SaberCats put in Nathan Stanley for last two quarters of the game and he continued the SaberCats dominance as he found Willis, Gray and Harper for scores and didn’t give up an interception. The SaberCats defense also stood strong in the second half as they didn’t allow a single point in the third quarter and only one touchdown in the fourth. Huey Whittaker contributed on defense with nine tackles on defense and veteran Ken Fontenette contributed with six of his own.
“I thought my guys played hard, they came out and did what they had to do,” said Head Coach Darren Arbet. “They took care of business. I liked the way they played.”
The SaberCats are back on the field on March 29 in San Jose when the host the Philadelphia Soul (0-1) at 5:00 pm.
OAKLAND – Leaking ceilings, huge puddles and long lines couldn’t keep away 20,000 plus fans today from the Oakland Athletics annual Fanfest held at the Oakland Coliseum. The Oakland faithful stood outside the for as long as two hours before the gates opened until they were finally allowed in to welcome back their A-Team and kickoff the 2014 A’s season.
The FanFest contained all the usual things you would expect – autographs, photo opps and clubhouse tours. However the A’s front office and staff outdid themselves this year by adding the opportunity to take photos with all four of the A’s World Series trophies, a baseball 101 and kids batting clinic for the public and an exclusive opportunity for the fans to interview the bench coaches. Also the A’s brought home the champions by inviting A’s legends Vida Blue, Ray Fosse, Gene Tenace, Dave Henderson and Tony Phillips.
Prior to opening up the gates to the public, the players and coaches gathered in Oracle Arena’s courtside club and gave the media a quick media session where coaches and players addressed questions from the press.
Manager Bob Melvin was the first to be swarmed by reporters where he addressed the A’s improved bullpen, Coco Crisp’s leadership as well as the complicated decision of who should be designated hitter for each game.
“You pinch yourself with his bullpen depth,” said Melvin when asked about the additions to his bullpen. “I’m very happy with what we’ve been able to do.” This off-season the A’s added LHP Fernando Abad, RHP Jim Johnson, RHP Josh Lindbolm, RHP Luke Gregerson, LHP Scott Kazmir, LHP Drew Pomeranz and LHP Eric O’Flaherty to their bullpen to give what some have called the best bullpen in the league.
The A’s also agreed to terms with fan darling Coco Crisp a few days ago to a two-year, $22.75 million deal through 2016 and it includes a vesting option for 2017. “Coco has been a leader each year since I got here” said Melvin.
“I don’t really look at myself that way. If the guys have questions I would love to answer them. I consider myself a peer to these guys. They (the organization) do a good job of grooming the personalities and a lot of these guys came from the organization so it’s a fairly easy gig to have that veteran label but there are a few things that I try to chime in here and there,” said Crisp on his leadership role.
As for the designated hitter role Melvin said that the A’s are likely to rotate the DH spot with days off between Cespedes, Crisp and catcher John Jaso. General Manager Billy Beane said that the A’s will not add any big bats before spring training even though there are still some big names out there. He also said that the 25-man roster will likely come from the group of guys invited to spring training and that if there are any other additions to the team that they would be there purely for depth.
The AL West is stacked this year. The Mariners signed the dangerous Robinson Cano , reliable first baseman Corey Hart and second baseman Willie Bloomquist. The Rangers signed outfielders Shin-Soo Choo and Alex Castellanos and the Angels signed Raul Ibanez and Angel Molina but also traded RF Mark Trumbo to the Diamondbacks for left handed pitchers Hector Santiago and Tyler Skaggs.
On the moves, Crisp said, “It’s going to make our division harder. Seattle has done a great job of enhancing their chances of winning this year. They already had a good team in place so it’s going to make it a little more fun for us to go out there. Competition is always good and I think our team enjoys that. We feed off that.”
Ryan Cook continued, “It’s nothing new for us. The Rangers made big moves. Anaheim made big moves in the past. We’ll see. We’re going to go out there and play the way that Bob wants us to play and the way that we know how.”
Eric Sogard echoed Cook’s sentiments, “We’re not going to change what we’re doing. We’re going to go out there everyday and focus on what we’re doing. Obviously the AL West is going to be the top division in baseball and I think that will be exciting for the fans. Playing them (Seattle) a majority of the year is going to allow us to play our best baseball and get ready for the post-season.”
During a question-and-answer session at the arena Sean Doolittle addressed the idea that the A’s are still considered underdogs and address the AL West situation as well.
“If we were really under the radar, would these other teams in our division be spending that kind of money or be making those blockbuster trades to try to shake things up? This time last year, we were answering these same questions about what other teams did. So we’ve been through this before.”
The A’s have a daunting task in front of them. They are trying to be the first back-to-back-to-back AL West Champions since the 1988-89-90 team did it over 20 years ago. Out of that team the A’s were able to grab two World Series appearances and a World title. With the team on hand today, the A’s appear to be destined to be back in the playoffs.
STOCKTON – The San Francisco Bulls (15-20-4-1) beat the Stockton Thunder (20-13-0-5), 3-2 in dramatic fashion that saw the Bulls score the tying goal in the third period and win a shootout. The Bulls Sebastian Stalberg shined bright for the Bulls as he scored the equalizer and the winning goal in the shoot out over Brian Foster. Bulls goalie Tyler Beskorowany stopped 34 shots on the night including the big stops in the shootout on J.P. Burkemper and Matt Bergland.
The Thunder got on the board first when Shawn Boutin took a nice shot from the point and beat Besko who was being screened hard by a Thunder player. There were four penalties in the first including matching fighting majors on Bigos for the Bulls and MacLeod for the Thunder. Macleod was also charged with an Illegal check to the head.
The Bulls tied it up in the second when Jordan Morrison scored his 11th goal of the season off of a rebound that bounced off Foster. Dale Mitchell and Dean Ouellet received assists on the goal. For Ouellet this upped his point streak to six games in a row. With less that five minutes left, the Thunder regained the lead when Matt Bergland beat Besko on a nice pass from Greg Miller and brought it to a 2-1 game after two periods.
The third period saw both teams come out aggressive and saw three penalties called on the teams including a pair of roughing minors only 51 seconds into the period. Sebastian Stalberg tied the game with 6:38 left in the game when he followed his shot and gathered his own rebound and beat Foster to make it 2-2. Both teams turned up the heat as Riley Brace and Garet Hunt displayed when they got unsportsmanlike conduct penalties with three minutes left in the game. Foster and Besko were able to turn away 30 total shots in the period and take the game into overtime.
In the extra period the Bulls gave Stockton a chance when Kyle Bigos was called for tripping but the Bulls were able to hold them off and take the game into a shootout.
In the shoot out, Dean Ouellet and Stalberg scored for the Bulls and Besko stopped four of the the five Thunder shooters and gave the Bulls the 3-2 victory.
The Bulls now have a long 11-day holiday until they return back inside the Cow Palace on January 30th when they take on the same Stockton Thunder. Time of game is at 7:30pm.
SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco Bulls (13-19-2-1) were defeated by the Alaska Aces (21-9-2-1), 5-2 on Saturday night at the Cow Palace. Brett Findlay and Sebastian Stalberg scored for the Bulls on their second annual LGBT night where the team wore special jerseys to show their support for the LGBT community in San Francisco.
Coming off an impressive win the other night against the Aces, the Bulls and their fans were looking forward to another hard fought, nail-biting night of hockey. Unfortunately, the game played out exactly as it did on Friday night but without the impressive comeback.
In the first period the Bulls were getting quality passes off to the front of the Aces goal however no one was there to put the puck home. Meanwhile the Aces seemed to skate into the Bulls zone with ease and set up plays nicely and wait until they got the numbers they needed to mount an attack. The Aces got on the board first when Shawn Skelly scored by coming around the back of the net and jumped on a rebound off a Nick Mazzolini shot and beat Beskorowany to the far post and gave Alaska a 1-0 lead. Less than two minutes later, Mathew Sisca and a fellow Ace were bearing down into the Bulls zone on a two-on-one and after a quick fake pass, Sisca beat Besko through the five hole and gave the Aces a two goal lead.
The Bulls got their first goal of the game and cut the lead in half in the second period when Dale Mitchell picked up the puck from behind the net and shot it out in front of the goal to Brett Findlay who scored into a wide open net. The goal was Findlay’s 26th point of the season and moved him into the fifth position of top rookie scorers in the league. The Bulls were taking shots on Aces goalie Roy however they weren’t quality shots at the all sailed on the ground or saw little flight in the puck at all. Findlay did have a beautiful drop pass to Jordan Morrison but even that shot was turned away by Roy. With 7:01 remaining in the second, the Bulls gave up the puck in their zone to former Bull Peter Sivak who found Tim Coffman in front of the net one-on-one with Besko and beat him top shelf to bring the lead back to two with a score of 3-1.
At the end of the second; after the buzzer sounded, Brett Findlay shot the puck down ice and head referee Stephen Reneau took exception to it and appeared to think he thought it was a knock at him and called an unsportsmanlike misconduct on him to put the Aces on the power play to start the third.
It didn’t take the Aces long to respond as 37 seconds into the final period, Sisca scored his second goal of the game with a nice feed from Coffman and bring the lead to three. At 3:36, Sebastian Stalberg scored his first goal with the Bulls on a nice feed from Dean Ouellet who found him streaking to the net and made it a 4-2 game. The Aces responded quickly when Coffman scored his second of the game when he picked the pocket of a Bulls player and beat Besko top shelf to give the Aces the 5-2 victory.
It was a messy loss for the Bulls as they had more than enough opportunities to capitalize on Alaska’s mistakes. The Bulls weren’t able to connect on a few two-on-one’s and even missed on a few nearly wide open nets when the Bulls had Roy scrambling from in front of the net.
The Bulls now take a few days off before they play again on Wednesday when they take on the Colorado Eagles at 7:30 pm.
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