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Kings Secure Playoff Spot With Win Over Portland 120-80

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Sacramento Kings forward Domantas Sabonis, right, drives to the basket on Portland Trail Blazers forward Nassir Little, left, during the first half in Portland on Wed Mar 29, 2023 (AP News photo)

Kings Secure Playoff Spot With Win Over Portland 120-80

By Barbara Mason

Wednesday night the Sacramento Kings (46-30) traveled to Portland to take on the Trail Blazers (32-44). The Kings ended the NBA’s longest playoff drought with a 120-80 win over the Trail Blazers. The win tonight in Portland locked down a spot in the post-season.

It was a slow start for the Kings trailing after the first quarter had come to an end 20-19. Sacramento was having a lot of trouble hitting shots from downtown. After two quarters the King were five of 24 from the perimeter. They were shooting at 20.8% on three pointers.

It took the first quarter for the Kings to heat up. With under four minutes left in the first half, the Kings had a 44-32 lead and finally had this game on cruise control; or did they? This was the largest lead for the Kings in the game but Portland refused to go away. The Trail Blazers closed out the first half with a 14-6 run and just like that had pulled to within four points 50-46.

After two quarters Domantas Sabonis was on the verge of another double double with ten rebounds and nine points. De’Aaron Fox had a slow first half with four points.

The third quarter began with a Keegan Murray triple putting him just one three away from the all- time NBA rookie 3-point record. Four minutes into the quarter the Kings had established a 62-51 lead. At 6:40 Murray made history with his third three in this game making him the all-time NBA rookie leader from beyond the arc.

With 4:45 left in the quarter the Kings had a 73-60 advantage. After three quarters the Kings had a 83-64 lead. Fox had heated up and had 12 points through three and the Kings were a quarter away from securing a playoff spot.

Forth quarter clutch player Fox started the quarter with a couple of triples to extend their lead to 99-65. The second half Kings had arrived. The three’s were falling for Sacramento already clocking 14 with 8:41 left in the game. They would finish with 18 triples and win by a whopping 40 points.

Malik Monk had the game high with 19 points off the bench. Fox had 18 points. The 17 year drought had come to an end with this decisive win.

Friday night the Kings will remain in Portland for another game with the Trail Blazers. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 PM.

Earthquakes battle Toronto FC to 0-0 scoreless draw

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San Jose Earthquakes Benji Kikanovic attempted a shot against Toronto FC in a 0-0 draw at Pay Pal Park on MAR 25, 2023. (Jose Rocha/Tectanoic Takes)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Earthquakes earned a point against Toronto FC as both teams ended their match with a 0-0 draw on Saturday evening at Pal Pay Park.

San Jose has points in two of its past three matches. Toronto FC has earned points in four of its five first matches.

San Jose (2-2-1) head coach Luchi Gonzalez was forced to tweak his starting 11 as Jamiro Monteiro was out on international duty and Carlos Gruezo out with an injury. Benji Kinkanovic and Michael Baldisimo made their first starts of the season.

“I mean we’ve had our challenges with injuries and also missing guys. So definitely both Toronto and us had challenges in that regard. But I am happy with some of the things we created in terms of our expected goals. We definitely created enough chances to score at least a goal. We defended very well collectively and individually, shutting down a few of their key guys and that’s important. If we can have an effort like that, consistently, defensively, things will bounce our way offensively I believe in our process,” Gonzalez said.

The Quakes controlled the majority of the possession in the opening 45 minutes but were a tad off here and there on passes deep inside Toronto’s zone that prevented them from having a shot on target.

The closest Toronto FC (1-1-3) threatened to put a dent in the scoreboard in the first came in the seventh minute when Deandre Kerr’s right footed shot from the center of the box was knocked away by Quakes goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski.

“In the first half we couldn’t connect with each other, but I think that was because in the first half teams normally come with a lot of energy,” said Quakes forward Christian Espinoza regarding the teams chances. “We knew that in the second half they were going to drop that energy, so that we could create more chances to score. That is what happened on the field, but today we couldn’t connect on a couple of crosses and the chances that we had. But we are happy with this point and clean sheet, and we have to keep going.”

San Jose’s Rodrigues had two quality headers in a two-minute off set pieces in span from the 54th minute to the 56th that went just wide of the net of Toronto FC goalkeeper Sean Johnson.

Toronto FC played more of the same defensive style in the second half with as it only generated two shots on goal.

The Quakes had it chance for a game winning goal in the second minute of stoppage time in the second half when Jackson Yueill’s low line drive shot was saved by an outstretched Johnson. Tommy Thompson had a chance to clean up the rebound with Johnson down on the ground but his mistimed his attempt and fell to the ground without getting off a shot.

Both Marcinkowski and Johnson were credited with two saves in each earning a clean sheet.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished with six corner kicks. Toronto FC had three.

San Jose has earned 7+ points from their first three home matches for the first time since 2017.

The Quakes have conceded one total goal across the three home matches and have an active 253-minute shutout streak at PayPal Park.

San Jose is now 6-5-8 all-time vs. Toronto FC, including a 3-2-4 record at home. With the draw, the Quakes extended their unbeaten streak against Toronto to five matches (1-0-4) dating back to 2018. San Jose’s last home loss vs. Toronto came in 2010.

The attendance at Pay Pal Park was 12,434.

UP NEXT: San Jose host the Houston Dynamo on Saturday 4/1 at 7:30pm at Pay Pal Park.

Hudon’s heroics lift Eagle past Barrcuda 3-2, sweep series

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Colorado Eagles forward Ryan Wagner (#13) fights for room between the San Jose Barracuda’s Artemi Kniazev (#25) and Darren Brady (#92) during the Eagles 3-2 win at the Budweiser Events Center on Wednesday MAR 22, 2023. (Colorado Eagles)

by Marko Ukalovic

Charles Hudon’s second goal of the game proved to be the game winner as the Colorado Eagles edged the San Jose Barracuda in 3-2 victory on Wednesday evening at Budweiser Events Center.

San Jose has lost two games in a row and sit three points out of the seventh place and the final spot in the Pacific Division, currently held by the Tucscon Roadrunners. Colorado swept the two-game series as it sits comfortably in fourth place.

San Jose (26-31-1-4-57 points) drew first blood near the halfway mark of the opening frame with a power play goal. Tristen Robbins scored his first goal of the game and 13th goal of the season at the 8:26 mark. Artemi Kniazev and Brandon Coe recorded the helpers.

Colordo (34-20-5-3-76 points) evened it up early in the second period a power play goal from Hudon. Hudon’s first goal of the game and 23rd of the season at the 2:16 mark were assisted by Ben Meyers and David Farrance.

Robbins regained the lead for the ‘Cuda just over two minutes later with his second power play goal of the contest. His 14th of the season came at the 4:45 mark of the middle frame as Cow and Shakir Mukhamadullin assisted on the goal.

It was Mukhamadullin’s first point in a Barracuda uniform in just his second game with the team.

The Eagles scored the equalizer early in the third period with an even strength goal. Cedric Pare scored his ninth goal of the season at the 5:58 mark from Nate Clurman and Meyers who picked up his second helper of the game.

Hudon’s and the Eagles second power play goal just past the halfway mark of the final frame proved to be the game winner as Hudon scored his team leading 24th goal at the 11:19 mark. Mikhail Meltsev and Farrance were credited with assists on the play.

Eagles goalie Justus Annunen stopped 32 of the 34 shots to earn the victory. Aaron Dell, who made his second straight start, made 29 saves on 32 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: Bothe teams finished 2-for-6 on the power play.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Hudon 2) Robins 3) Pare.

UP NEXT: San Jose returns home to host a two-game weekend series with the Bakersfield Condors on Saturday 3/25 at 6:00pm at Tech CU Arena.

Maltsev’s two goals lead the way in Eagles 8-0 route of Barracuda

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The Colorado Eagles celebrate their 8-0 victory over the San Jose Barracuda at the Budweiser Events Center on Tuesday MAR 21, 2023. (Colorado Eagles)

by Marko Ukalovic

The Colorado Eagles used seven different goal scorers, including two from Mikhail Maltsev, as they routed the San Jose Barracuda in a 8-0 shutout victory on Tuedsay evening at the Budweiser Events Center.

San Jose has lost two out of its last three games as it fights for the seventh and final playoff spot in the Pacific Division, currently held by the Tucson Roadrunners. Colorado has won three out of its last four games and is on four-game point streak as they hold on to fourth place in the division.

Colorado (33-20-5-3-74 points) scored early and often in the opening frame as they tallied for four games in the period. Ryan Wagner got the party started at the 6:35 mark when he scored his fifth goal of the season. Callahan Burke picked up the only assist on the goal.

Just over two minutes later Riley McCourt scored his first goal of the season at the 8:39 mark. Alex Beaucage and Ben Meyers has the helpers on McCourt’s goal.

The Eagles finished off the first period with two late goals. Maltsev scored his first of the night, his sixth of the season, at the 15:26 mark. Charles Hudson and Cedric Pare were credited with the assists.

David Farrance scored his third goal of the season with 31 seconds remaining in the opening frame as Meltsev and Burke set up Farrance who beat ‘Cuda starting goalie Aaron Dell with a wrist shot. Dell gave up four goals on 14 shots.

San Jose (26-30-1-4-57 points) was badly dominated by Colorado in the opening 20 minutes, despite having two power play opportunities, as they were out shot 14-5.

‘Cuda head coach John McCarthy spelled Dell for the rest of the game as he sent out Strauss Mann to start out the second period. Mann didn’t fare any better as he also gave up four goals to the Eagles.

Hudson scored his team leading 22nd goal of the season on the power play to give Colorado a 5-0 lead early in the second period. Farrance and Meyers receieved assists on Hudson’s goal that came at the 4:48 mark.

Maltsev scored his second goal, also Colorado’s second goal with the man advantage, at the 14:48 mark.

The fireworks continued for the Eagles Sampo Ranta scored his ninth goal of the season at the 16:26 mark.

Beaucage completed the scoring with his eighth goal of the season with 55 seconds left in the middle frame.

Colorado took their foot off the gas pedal in the final frame as they cruised the final 20 minutes as both teams combined for just 13 shots.

Eagles goalie Keith Kinkaid stopped all 21 shots he faced to pickup the shutout victory. Mann made 17 saves on 21 shots in mop up duty.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 0-for-4 on the power play. Colorado was 2-for-5.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Kinkaid 2) Maltsev 3) Farrance

UP NEXT: San Jose and Colorado complete their two-game series on Wednesday 3/22 at 6:05pm at the Budweiser Events Center.

Rebels’ stingy defense ends Cardinal tournament run 54-49

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Stanford forward Cameron Brink (22) drives to the basket against Mississippi forward Madison Scott, right during the second half of a second-round at Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto on Sat Mar 19, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum
Friday, March 17, 2023

A highly successful women’s basketball season came to an end for Stanford Sunday, as the No. 1-seeded Cardinal fell to No. 8-seed Mississippi 54-49 in the second round of the Seattle 4 Region tournament in a game played at Maples Pavilion.

Stanford finished its season 29-6, while the Rebels improved to 25-8 as they advance to the Sweet 16. The loss snapped the Cardinal’s streak of 14 consecutive years reaching the regional round.

“I thought our team really battled in the second half,” Cardinal coach Tara VanDerveer said in the postgame media session. “We kind of dug ourselves a hole, but you know, we battled back. We tied it up and we had an opportunity to win the game.

“I think Mississippi is a very experienced and very determined team. They made plays down the stretch that we didn’t make.”

Cameron Brink missed the Cardinal’s NCAA tournament opener against Sacred Heart with what was described as “a non-COVID-19 illness.” She played 34 minutes, scoring a team-high 20 points along with 13 rebounds, seven blocks and two steals. Brink also hit 10-of-10 free throws.

“I think I just – I felt sick,” Brink said. “I think I’m still getting back to my normal self but I definitely got a little winded throughout the game, but I tried my best.”

Senior Haley Jones had 16 points, eight rebounds and three steals in her final game for Stanford.

“I think Ole Miss is a great defensive team,” Jones said. “And we heard them say that they prided themselves on their defense. They packed it in their suitcase, and they were going to come in and execute that plan. I think they did a great job.

“They (Mississippi) were contesting shots in a great way. But we missed a lot of shots that we usually make, which is disappointing.”

Angel Baker was the top scorer for Ole Miss with 13 points, followed by Marquesha Davis with 12 and Madison Scott with 11. Davis had four of the Rebels’ nine steals, and Rita Igbokwe grabbed eight rebounds in 17 minutes.

The Rebels, who led 29-20 at halftime, never trailed and scored 24 points off 21 Stanford turnovers. After Mississippi built a 49-41 lead with 5:47 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Cardinal used an 8-0 run, capped by two Brink free throws, to tie the game at 49-49 with 1:15 left.

Scott sank a pair of free throws with 18 seconds remaining to put the Rebels back in front at 51-49. Three seconds later, after Jones turned the b ball over, Davis hit two free throws to increase the Ole Miss lead to 53-49. Myah Taylor stole the ball from Jones with 15 seconds remaining and sank 1 of 2 foul shots.

Mississippi will face 4-seed Texas or 5-seed Louisville in the regional in Seattle on Friday. The Longhorns and Cardinals play on Monday.

Barracuda beat down Silver Knights in 6-2 win

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Danil Gushchin (#75) celebrates his goal with his San Jose Barracuda teammates against the Henderson Silver Knights at Tech CU Arena on Wednesday MAR 15, 2023. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Barracuda scored the final four goals of the game as they cruised to a 6-2 victory over the Henderson Silver Knights on Wednesday morning at Tech CU Arena.

San Jose has won three out of its past four games and sit one point behind the Tucson Roadrunners (56 points) for 7th place and the final playoff spot in the Pacific Division. Henderson have lost four games in a row and currently sit in the 9th place in the Pacific Division.

San Jose (25-28-1-4-55 points) had the drew first blood 27 seconds into the game with an even strength goal. Artemi Kniazev centered a pass in front of the crease to Ozzie Wiesblatt who tucked home the puck from point blank range past Silver Knight’s goalie Ishiah Saville for his third goal of the season.

Henderson (22-32-0-5-49 points) evened the score seconds after their power play expired. Brandon Bisson cleaned up his own rebound from the left slot as he beat ‘Cuda goalie Aaron Dell with a wrist shot top shelf for his 11th goal of the season at the 4:32 mark.

The Silver Knights gained its first lead of the game thanks to a giveaway by the ‘Cuda behind their own net. Sakari Manninen centered the puck from behind the net to Brayden Pachal who blasted a one-timer past Dell for his third goal of the season at the 13:48 mark.

San Jose evened the score late in the opening frame with the man advantage. Martin Kaut began what was a tic-tac-toe type of goal when he sent the puck down low to Kyle Criscuolo, who then fed a pass through the crease over to Andrew Agozzino and the ‘Cuda captain finished off the play as he buried the puck into an open net for his team leading 23rd goal of the season at the 19:29 mark.

The Barracuda regained the lead late in the middle frame. Kniazev intercepted a clearing attempt by Henderson, then spotted Martin Kaut opened on the right wing and Kaut drilled a wrist shot past Saville for his eighth goal of the season at the 18:01 mark.

San Jose scored an insurance goal with its second power play tally of the game. Danil Gushchin picked up a loose puck near the blueline from a scrum along the boards. Gushchin skated in and beat Saville through the five-hole with a wrist shot for his 14th goal of the season just 51 seconds into the third period.

Kniazev picked up his third point of the game with the secondary assist on Gushchin’s goal.

The ‘Cuda put the game away with its third unanswered goal 74 seconds later. A Kaut breakaway attempt was cleaned up by Criscuolo as he trailed the play for his 15th goal of the season.

Agozzino finished off the scoring with his second goal of the game, a short-handed empty netter with 3:59 remaining in the final stanza when Henderson pulled Saville for an extra attacker with the mad advantage.

Dell finished the afternoon stopping 21 of the 23 shots he faced to earn the victory. Saville made 28 saves on 33 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 2-for-2 on the power play. Henderson went 0-for-4.

The Barracuda hosted its annual ‘Cuda Classroom Day where kids from the local elementary schools were in attendance.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Kaut 2) Kniazev 3) Agozzino

San Jose finished 5-1-0-1 against Henderson in the season series. They finished 1-7-0-0 last season against the Silver Knights.

UP NEXT: San Jose hosts the Texas Stars for a two-game weekend series starting on Friday 3/17 at 7:00pm at Tech CU Arena.

Espinoza’s first tally of the season provide Earthquakes 1-0 shutout win over Rapids

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San Jose Earthquakes forward Christian Espinoza celebrates his game winning goal over the Colorado Rapids on Saturday MAR 11, 2023. (Dario Cruz-Tectonic Takes)

by Marko Uklaovic

SAN JOSE — Christian Espinoza is proving he’s the guy you count on to seize the opportunity.

Espinoza’s first goal of the season in the 78th minute, proved to be the game winner as the San Jose Earthquakes shutout the Colorado Rapids 1-0 on Saturday evening at Pay Pal Park.

San Jose has won two of its first three matches to start the season. Colorado had its third consecutive game without scoring a goal. It is the first time since 2015 that they have gone scoreless in its first three matches to start the season.

Espinoza, who is only five assists away from becoming the all-time assist leader in Quakes history, gathered the rebound off of a Miguel Trauco shot. The Argentinean striker dribbled to the right before firing a right-footed shot top from just beyond the box top shelf past Rapids goalkeeper William Yarbrough for his first goal of the season that sent the Quakes faithful into a frenzy.

“He is lethal with his right foot in terms of a cross or a shot,” said Quakes head coach Luchi Gonzalez regarding Espinoza. “Can we get him opportunities to get more shots? That is something that we want to keep working on. Also with his left foot, he is good at cutting inside and scoring with his left as well. He showed that in preseason. We are really proud of him and a player that is relentless with his energy and his mentality, and then when he has a little bit of space and can get a shot or a cross in, we know he can create issues. We want to keep doing that.”

San Jose (2-1-0) had the pitch tilted in its favor for the majority of the first half as the generated numerous scoring chances. Their best chance came in the 35th minute when Espinoza’s attempt from 25 yards out was knocked off the cross bar when Yarbrough was able to get a hand on the ball keeping it out of the back of the net.

Carlos Akapo made his first career MLS start at right back for San Jose and made an impact with helping out on the offensive attack while providing stability on the backline.

Colorado (0-2-1) played on their heels throughout the opening 45 minutes as were not able to generate any quality scoring chances as the Quakes backline held down the fort.

Throughout the second half San Jose came close to breaking through on the scoreboard as they generated four quality scoring chances, that included two saves from Yarbrough, before Espinoza’s tally.

Gonzalez praised his team’s effort and was happy San Jose came away with three points and not just one.

“You saw me celebrate it (Espinoza’s goal). I’m very happy for him (Espinoza) and the team find a goal because it wasn’t easy. Colorado defended well. Look had we not scored, and it ended up tied, I would’ve still been proud of how the guys played. Of course, I would’ve been disappointed had we not scored but would’ve been proud with the identity of our team we’ve established since training in the preseason,” Gonzales said.

Espinoza was glad he was able to contribute to the team’s success this early into theseason.

“We always try to find the free spaces to take that kind of shot, especially in front of the goal. Sometimes we can do it, and sometimes we can’t. But for that it’s very important that the team is committed to move the ball side to side and today I think that we had a great game,” Espinoza said.

‘Quakes goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski, who made his first start of the season, had a perfect clean sheet as Colorado failed to generate any shots on target during the match. Yarbrough made three saves on four shots on target in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished with five corner kicks. Colorado had three.

San Jose is now 32-25-18 all-time vs. the Colorado Rapids, including a 19-9-9 record at home. They went 1-4-2 against Colorado last season.

The Quakes have only lost once when hosting the Rapids at PayPal Park since its opening in 2015 (6-1-2).

Midfielder Jackson Yueill made his 150th MLS appearance. Yueill is now tied with Jon Busch for the ninth most appearances in club history.

Tonight’s attendance was 13,383.

UP NEXT: San Jose will play its inaugural game against St. Louis City next Saturday at 5:00pm at CityPark.

Griffith’s hat rick dooms Barracuda in Condors 6-2 win, split weekend series

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Seth Griffith and Raphael Lavoie celebrate Griffith’s goal against the San Jose Barracuda on Friday MAR 11, 2023. (Bakersfield Condors)

by Marko Ukalovic

The Bakersfield Condors blitzed the San Jose Barracuda with five unanswered goals including a hat trick from Seth Griffith in a 6-2 crushing victory on Saturday evening at Mechanics Bank Arena.

San Jose had its two-game winning streak snapped. Bakersfield went back up five points on San Jose for seventh place and the final playoff spot in the Pacific Division.

It was a reversal of fortune for the home team as they turned the tables to split the two-game series. The night before they were dominated by San Jose in almost the same fashion.

Bakersfield (27-26-2-2-58 points) drew first blood halfway through the first period. Greg McKegg stole the puck behind the San Jose net and centered a pass to an open Seth Griffith and the veteran forward buried a one-timer past ‘Cuda goalie Aarond Dell for his 14th goal of the season at the 9:45 mark.

San Jose (24-28-1-4-53 points) evened the score just under four minutes later. Thomas Bordeleau made a power move around a Condors defender. Bordelaeu’s shot was blocked but ‘Cuda captain Andrew Agozzino cleaned up the rebound sliding the puck past Condor’s goalie Calvin Pickard for his team leading 22nd goal of the season at the 13:24 mark.

The Condors regained the lead late in the opening 20 minutes on the man advantage. After Cam Dineen kept the puck inside the ‘Cuda zone, James Hamblin sent a cross ice pass over to Raphael Lavoie who snapped home a wrist shot past Dell for his 21st goal of the season at the 18:52 mark.

Bakersfield dominated the first period as the outshot San Jose 22-4.

Lavoie scored his second goal of the game with an even strength goal early in the second period. Lavoie had a give and go with Griffith, and he used a ‘Cuda defender as a screen to roof a wrist shot past Dell for his team leading 22nd goal at the 6:40 mark.

A controversial play led to Bakersfield third unanswered goal of the middle frame. Nick Cicek was apparently tripped up at his own blue line by Griffth. The officials let the play continue with no penalty on the play and Griffith skated in on a breakaway and beat Dell with a backhander for his second goal of the game and 15th of the season at the 14:40 mark.

Noah Philp gave Bakersfield a 5-1 lead just under three minutes later when he scored his 14th goal of the season with a shot top shelf to the short side at the 17:34 mark.

‘Cuda head coach replaced Dell in the net with backup goalie Strauss Mann to start the third period in attempt to shake things up as his team floundered during the first 40 minutes of the game. Dell (10-12-1) allowed five goals on 33 shots.

Griffith completed his hat trick with a 5-on-3 power play goal at the 11:01 mark of the final frame.

Darren Brady picked up his third goal of the season at the 14:03 mark when he finished off a pass from Brandon Coe with a wrist shot that beat Pickard.

Pickard (17-9-2) stopped 27 of the 29 shots he faced to earn the victory. Mann made seven saves on eight shots in mop up duty for the ‘Cuda.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 0-for-6 on the power play. Bakersfield went 2-for-6.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Griffith 2) Lavoie 3) Jason Demers

UP NEXT: San Jose returns home to host the Henderson Silver Knights on Wednesday at 10:30am at Tech CU Arena.

Barracuda’s second period blitz buries Reign 6-2

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The San Jose Barracuda began their road trip off with a bang in their 6-2 win over the Ontario Reign on Wednesday MAR 8, 2022. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

The San Jose Barracuda scored three goals in the second period en route to a 6-2 victory over the Ontario Reign on Wednesday evening at Toyota Center.

San Jose has won two out of its last three games and two in a row over the Reign. The ‘Cuda remain five points behind the Bakersfield Condors for the seventh place and the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Ontario has lost five games in a row and six out of their last seven.

Ontario (30-21-4-1) drew first blood 66 seconds into the first period on its first shot on goal. ‘Cuda goalie Aaron Dell misplayed the puck from behind the net. Alan Quine thanked Dell for the gift as he wrapped around the puck into an empty net for his eight goal of the season.

San Jose (23-27-1-4) evened the score just over two minutes later with its first shot on net. Adam Raska fed a pass over to Will Riedell who skated in front of Reign goalie Cal Petersen and deposited the puck to the left side of the net for his second goal of the season at the 3:23 mark.

Wiedell has scored both goals of his career against the Reign.

The Barracuda gained its first lead of the game at the 5:04 mark. Off of a faceoff draw inside the Reign zone, Jeffery Viel beat Petersen with a wrist shot for his 11th goal of the season. Viel has scored goals in back-to-back games and extended his point streak to seven.

Ontario scored the equalizer just past the halfway point of the opening frame. Tyrell Goulbourne gathered the puck at the left faceoff circle and snapped home a wrist shot past Dell for his second goal of the season at the 10:06 mark.

San Jose changed the momentum of the game with three unanswered goals in the middle frame.

Kyle Kriscuolo intercepted a pass inside at the Reign blueline and skated in on a breakaway and slid a backhander past Petersen for an unassisted goal, his 13th of the season at the 6:02 mark.

Luke Johnson cleaned up a rebound off a Danil Gushchin shot from the right wing for his 10th goal of the season at the 8:40 mark to give the ‘Cuda an insurance goal after the Reign turned the puck over in the neutral zone that led to the odd man rush for San Jose.

‘Cuda captain Andrew Agozzino put the game away late in the second period with his team leading 21st goal of the season when he finished off a rink wide pass from Riedell with a tap in from the back door. Agozzino extended his point-scoring streak to nine games, one shy of the Barracuda record held by Marcus Sorensen.

Criscuolo concluded the scoring with his second goal of the game, and 14th of the season, with 1:46 remaining in the third period when he banged home a puck in front of the crease from a pass by Thomas Bordeleau.

Dell (9-11-2) finished the evening stopping 24 of the 26 shots he faced to earn the victory and is 3-0 against the Reign this season. Petersen (13-11-4) made 16 saves on 22 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 0-for-3 on the power play. Ontario was 0-for-5.

San Jose finished the season series with a 5-3 record against Ontario.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Riedell 2) Lee 3) Goulbourne.

UP NEXT: San Jose travels out to Bakersfield for a two-game weekend series with the Condors on Friday 3/10 at 7:00pm at Mechanics Bank Arena.

Akapo’s late goal propels Earthquakes to 2-1 win over Whitecaps in home opener

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The San Jose Earthquakes celebrate their 2-1 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps at Pay Pal Park on Saturday MAR 4, 2022. (San Jose Earthquakes)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — Carlos Akapo made a sizzling home debut for the Black and Blue.

Akapo scored the game winning goal in the 77th minute to give the San Jose Earthquakes a 2-1 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday evening before a sold-out crowd for at Pay Pal Park.

San Jose has lost two in a row to start the season/evened its record with its first win of the season in its home opener. Vancouver has lost two in a row to start the season/evened its record with its first win of the season.

Christian Espinoza found Akapo inside the box to the right. The 29-year-old Equatoguinean rifled a laser of a shot just inside the right post into the upper corner of the net for his first goal of the season.

Vancouver (0-1) drew first blood in the 17th minute as they took advantage of a lackadaisical pass from Jonathan Mensah which created a counterattack for the Whitecaps. Julian Gressel slid a pass over to Alessandro Schöpf, who got inside position on Paul Marie, and chipped the ball past Quakes goalkeeper Daniel De Sousa Brito for his first goal of the season.

The first 45 minutes for San Jose (0-1) was a half of missed opportunities. They had three shots on target but weren’t able to get the ball past Whitecap’s goalkeeper Yahel Takaoka, including a great individual effort by striker Cade Cowell where he went around three defenders before Takaoka made a save on his left footed attempt. Other opportunities hit the side of the net or sailed wide.

After a lackluster first half on defense as well, the Earthquakes responded with a sounder effort from their line in the second half that allowed the offense to control possession and gain momentum the rest of the match.

“I believe the sense of urgency changed,” said Mensah on the team’s rebound at home. “Of course, we could’ve started better, but being a goal down you need to do anything you can to come back and win the game. We sensed it right away that we needed to change gears and we did.”

The Quakes scored the equalizer in the 68th minute on a set piece. After a foul by Luis Martins on Espinoza, which resulted in a yellow card, Jamiro Monteiro centered a ball from 30 yards out where Jeremy Ebobisee soared high in the air and headed the ball into the upper left corner of the net for his second goal of the season.

“Set pieces are game changers and we know that. Unfortunately, in Atlanta, it didn’t bounce our way in terms of how we defended set pieces. We know the importance of set pieces. We think we have a team that can defend well and respond,” Quakes head coach Luchi Gonzalez said.

Ebobisse has scored in back-to-back games for San Jose.

Vancouver had a chance late in the match when Russell Teibert’s shot in the 86th minute was thwarted away by De Sousa Brito.

De Sousa Brito finished the match with one save on two shots on target for his first win in a Quakes uniform. Takaoka made four saves on six shots on target in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished with 12 corner kicks. Vancouver had six.

San Jose is now 10-10-12 all-time vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC, including a 6-1-8 record at home.

San Jose has won or drawn in 15 of the past 16 home matches against Vancouver (7W-8D).

UP NEXT: San Jose hosts the Colorado Rapids on Saturday 3/11 at 7:30pm at Pay Pal Park.