Sharks can’t push back on Brazel and Nelson’s goals as Isles dump on SJ defense 4-1 at UBS Arena

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New York Islanders goaltender Marcus Hogberg (50) makes a stop on the San Jose Sharks Luke Kunin (11) in the second period at UBS Arena in Elmont on Sat Jan 18, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Jessica Kwong

ELMONT, NY. — With several players sick or injured, the depleted San Jose Sharks fell to the New York Islanders 4-1 on Saturday night at UBS Arena.

The Sharks tied the game at 1-1 in the second period, but the Isles regained the lead 40 seconds later and took off with an unstoppable momentum.

“Yeah we just can’t make these, I don’t know if I can say it, but bonehead mistakes that end up in the back of net,” said Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky. “We get away from who we are as players and as a team, so until we do that we’re going to be kind of seeing the same result.”

Mathew Barzal scored the first goal of the night unassisted at 8:47 in the second period to put the Islanders up 1-0. The Sharks answered back at 10:02 when Barclay Goodrow scored a goal assisted by Jan Rutta to tie the game at 1-1.

“Yeah just saw (Collin) Graf and (Nico) Sturm driving the net, driving the inside and just trying to get the puck in,” said Goodrow of his goal.

Just 40 seconds later, Brock Nelson made a goal assisted by Kyle Palmieri and Adam Pelech to put the Isles back up 2-1. Then with 27 seconds remaining in the period, Noah Dobson made a goal assisted by Barzal and Bo Horvat, boosting the Isles up 3-1.

In the third period, Ryan Pulock made a goal assisted by Anthony Duclair and Nelson at 1:03 to expand the Islanders’ lead to 4-1. The Sharks made an effort in the third, but couldn’t score.

Sharks 19-year-old forward Will Smith, who was their fourth overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, skated with Mikael Granlund and Fabian Zetterlund for the very first time.

“I mean this team has done it before coming back 4-1, so I think having the mindset that we’re not out of it, and obviously no quit is kind of the mindset going into the third,” said Smith.

The Isles had an especially memorable night before the puck dropped, holding a ceremony on the ice inducting Brent Sutter into their Hall of Fame.

The Sharks (14-28-6) continue their road trip on Monday against the Boston Bruins (22-19-6). The puck drops at 10am PST on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary–Athletics Loading-Up and Spending money in Sacramento

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Sacramento A’s two way player Shotaro Morii (gold A’s jersey) is introduced at press conference in Sacramento. Morii signed a minor league contract for $1,520,500. (photo from the New York Post)

Athletics Loading-Up and Spending money in Sacramento

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

When a team relocates, it brings a lot of new challenges, aside from the city they’re moving to, marketing strategy, new players, who is gone and who is returning plus changing the team’s identity. For the Oakland A’s, who made Oakland their home from 1968 to 2024 are now starting a new phase of their history in Sacramento, California. Aside from the new players, more on that later.

For this first season in Sacramento, 2025, the Athletics have added a new sleeve patch to their uniform that features the Tower Bridge and the word Sacramento. No, it is not as famous as the Bay Bridge or the Golden Gate Bridge, nevertheless is an emblem of Sacramento.

For this first year in Sacramento, the team also signed Dominican-born right-handed pitcher Luis Severino in December 2024. Severino (a veteran with the Yankees and Mets) got the largest contract in the history of the Athletics, a three-year, $67 million contract. Previously, Eric Chavez hsd signed the largest contract in athletics history twenty years ago, a six-year contract extension of $66 million in 2004.

The A’s went to Asia to find young talent. They recently signed 18-year-old Shotaro Morii, who made the rare decision to bypass Japanese professional baseball entirely and agreed to a minor league contract with the Athletics, including a signing bonus of $1,520,500.

Morii is trying to become another two-way player from his country after the great Shohei Ohtani with the World Champions Los Angeles Dodgers. The minor league contract is the largest ever for a Japanese amateur outside of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB)

The spending spree came after the team extended slugger Brent Rooker’s contract to five years and $60 million. The A’s DH was their MVP in 2024, with a .293 batting average, 39 home runs and 112 runs batted in. Since last season, many teams where interested in Rooker, but the A’s did well in retaining him.

The A’s signed a one-year contract with Dominican-born right-hander José Leclerc for 1 year and $10 million. The team expects José’s acquisition will bolster the back end of the bullpen, with their #1 star sensational closer Mason Miller, on his third season with the A’s.

The team also signed experienced third baseman Gio Urshela to a 1 year contract worth $2.15 million with up to $400,000 in incentives. Urshela, a native of Cartagena, Colombia, signed with Cleveland in July 2008 at age 16. He made his MLB debut for the Indians on June 9, 2015, and played two-plus seasons in Cleveland before being traded to the Blue Jays in May 2018. The team was looking for a guy with this experience to be part of their infield this year. Saludos and Adiós, for now.

Amaury Pi-González was inducted into the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame in 2010 for his work as a Spanish-language Major League Baseball. Amaury is the vice president of the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Hall of Fame Museum catch Amaury’s podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Blakes’ Big Shot Gives Stanford 72-71 Win, Their First Ever Over North Carolina

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By Morris Phillips

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.–When you’re new in town, you need a guy that knows the lay, the ins, and outs. When that guy turns out to be the guy, you’ve got something special.

Jaylen Blakes was that guy, and Stanford, that team to successfully navigate the Dean E. Smith Center Saturday afternoon and escape with a 72-71 win that materialized with less than two seconds remaining. Blakes’ full court rush in the final seconds concluded with a pull-up, and short jumper gave Stanford their first-ever win over the Tar Heels after 13 losses.

“We took our foot off the gas a little bit. Our attention to detail wasn’t there, and that allowed Stanford to get into a rhythm and make their run,” UNC guard RJ Davis said.

“Little things lead to big things happening. And I felt like those little mistakes led to big things happening today in result of a loss,” coach Hubert Davis concluded.

For the always front running Tar Heels contingent, the loss wasn’t easy to explain. It wasn’t easy to take either. North Carolina’s six losses coming in were to contending teams. Stanford’s not that, but they could be if they compete as intently as they did against UNC.  Clearly, the Heels didn’t play poorly, but they were made to pay for their late mistakes.

For Stanford, Blakes was the main guy. A transfer from Duke, who played 83 games for the Blue Devils, but sparingly with just 60 total field goals made, has found his stride at Stanford. Against UNC, Blakes scored as many as 20 points for just the third time in his career, all three this season. The senior guard with a Duke degree led the Cardinal from the opening tip, being animated and solely responsible, the logical leadup to his game-winning shot. His celebration after the play that stunned 21,500 spectators was theatre as well.

“I was just talking to myself a little bit, but I happened to look at the crowd,” Blakes said. “I was overjoyed.”

Maxime Raynaud and three other starters were also full of belief. All five starters played at least 34 minutes and took all but one of the visitors’ shot attempts. Raynaud led all scorers with 25 points, but he was inefficient, and another missed shot–he missed 16–could have reversed the outcome.

Oziyah Sellers and Donavin Young provided high accuracy shooting and combined to get heralded UNC freshman Ian Jackson stopped. Jackson was 1 of 8 shooting for six points, after he had 18 or more in seven consecutive games.

Davis led UNC with 19 points. Ven-Allen Lubin added 13, and Elliot Cadeau had 12.

Stanford is 4-3 in the ACC and one of eight teams that have a winning conference record. The Cardinal has 12 scheduled games remaining, 10 of those against ACC teams with a losing conference record. They host Miami on Wednesday at Maples Pavilion.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Sharks-Islanders battle of two last place teams

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It’s a battle in front of the net with the San Jose Sharks Nico Sturm (7) and the Columbus Blue Jackets left wing Dimitri Voronkov (10) both reach for the puck in the first period at Nationwide Arena in Columbus on Fri Jan 17, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 James van Riemsdyk scored two goals for the Columbus Blue Jackets in a win over the San Jose Sharks 4-1 on Thursday. The win extended the Jackets win streak to six game. It’s the longest Columbus win streak since January 2020.

#2 The Jackets Kent Johnson scored and got an assist for Adam Fantilli picked up his eighth point and scored a goal. Van Riemsdyk got empty net goal with 2:01 left in the game which resulted in Van Riemsdyk second goal of the game.

#3 The Sharks Tyler Toffoli scored and goaltender Alexandar Georgiev saved 30 shots and the Sharks who had won six straight games have now lost four of their last five games and are in dead last place in the Pacific Division.

#4 On Thursday Marc-Edouard Vlasic played in his 1300th career game. Vlasic has been with the Sharks since the 2006-07 season. The Sharks are the only team that Vlasic knows.

#5 The Sharks now move onto the New York Islanders on Saturday. The Islanders like the Sharks are a last place team and sit in the cellar of the Eastern Conference with at 17-20-7 and have lost six of their last ten games.

Join Mary Lisa for the Sharks podcasts Saturdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sacramento Kings podcast with Jeremiah Salmonson: DeRozan leads Kings in 132-127 win over Rockets

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Guard Malik Monk (0) who was second in scoring for the Sacramento Kings is defended by the Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun (28) in the first half at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Thu Jan 18, 2025 (AP News photo)

On the Sacramento Kings podcast with Jeremiah Salmonson:

#1 Big offensive night for the Sacramento Kings in a 132-127 win over the Houston Rockets at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. The Kings had a big second quarter outscoring the Rockets 35-27.

#2 The Kings got scoring help from DeMar DeRozan who scored a leading 33 points. Since the seven game win streak DeRozan has been like his old self having successful scoring nights.

#3 Right behind DeRozan in scoring is Molik Monk who scored 26 points and had nine assists. Monk’s contributions have been big.

#4 What can you say about Domantas Sabonis that hasn’t already been said finishing third in scoring with seven assists he’s been crucial for the Kings and helping beating the Rockets was no different.

#5 The Kings go back at it again hosting the Washington Wizards on Sunday for a 6:00pm tip. The Wizards are dead last in the Eastern Conference at 6-33 and have lost eight straight games. The Wizards should be easy pickings for the Kings.

Join Jeremiah Salmonson for the Kings podcasts Fridays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Nylander scores game winner in OT for Leafs; Caps Ovechkin now 21 shy of Gretzky’s goal record; plus more NHL news

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Toronto Maple Leafs William Nylander (88) scored the game winning goal against the New Jersey Devils, he is joined in the celebration with teammates Jake McCabe (22) and Phillipe Myers (88) at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Thu Jan 16, 2025 (Canadian Press via AP)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 The Toronto Maple Leafs William Nylander scored the game winning overtime goal at 1:10 to defeat the New Jersey Devils 4-3 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Thursday night. Nylander on a Mitch Marner stretch pass and shot the puck for a goal past New Jersey goaltender Jacob Markstrom glove side from the blue line.

#2 Alexander Ovechkin scored the game winner for the Washington Capitals for his 874th career goal at 3:07 in overtime to defeat the Ottawa Senators 1-0 at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. Ovechkin is now 21 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL goal scoring record at 894. Ovechkin took a pass from Ramus Sandin on a two on one and beat the Sens Leevi Merilainen with a snap shot.

#3 The Tampa Bay Lightning Jake Guentzel scored in the shootout to defeat the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 at the Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay on Thursday. The Lightning’s Brayden Point scored, Victor Hedman picked up his career 600th assist. The win puts the Lighting at 3-1-1 in their last five games. Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy saved 34 shots.

#4 The Detroit Red Wings Cam Talbot stopped 41 shots on a busy night to defeat the Florida Panthers 5-2 at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise. Talbot had the hot hand stopping 23 shots in the third period. The Wings Dylan Larkin had two goals and an assist to keep the offense going.

#5 The Columbus Blue Jackets kept their win streak alive with a convincing 4-1 win over the San Jose Sharks at Nationwide Bank Arena in Columbus on Thursday. The Jackets James van Riemsdyk scored twice and Zach Werenski picked up his 18th consecutive home point.

Join Len Shapiro for the NHL podcasts Fridays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Kings Edge Rockets in High-Scoring Thriller, Return Home Victorious 132-127

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Photo: Malik Monk backpedals after hitting a three-pointer and Dillon Brooks runs down the court behind him. (Sacramento Kings on Instagram)

By Jeremiah Salmonson

SACRAMENTO, California – The Sacramento Kings returned to action on Thursday night following a road trip that included stops in Boston, Chicago, and Milwaukee. The Kings emerged from the trip with a 2-1 record, having secured victories against the Celtics and Bulls but falling to the Bucks in their final matchup. On Thursday, the Kings faced the Houston Rockets at Golden 1 Center, with tip-off at 7 PM PST. The Rockets were playing the second night of a back-to-back, coming off an impressive 128-108 victory over the Denver Nuggets. The Kings, eager to rebound from their loss to Milwaukee, secured a hard-fought 132-127 win, improving their season record to 21-20 and their home record to 11-12.

The game was a tale of two halves, with the Kings dominating early before the Rockets staged a comeback. Sacramento built a 16-point lead at one point but had to fend off Houston’s late surge. The Kings edged the Rockets 26-25 in the first quarter and 35-27 in the second, taking a 61-52 lead into halftime. However, the Rockets responded in the third quarter, outscoring the Kings 33-29 to narrow the deficit. Both teams exploded offensively in the fourth quarter, scoring 42 points each, but Sacramento held on to clinch the victory.

The closing minutes were marked by tension, with both Domantas Sabonis and Dillon Brooks fouling out after committing careless fouls. Rockets head coach Ime Udoka expressed frustration with the officiating, calling the late-game whistles “soft” and criticizing his players’ foul troubles.

Key Performers – Kings

The Kings were led by an outstanding performance from DeMar DeRozan, who delivered in crunch time by scoring 16 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter. De’Aaron Fox also played a crucial role, going a perfect 5-for-5 from the free-throw line in the final minutes to seal the victory. Malik Monk provided a strong spark off the bench, contributing 26 points to the Kings’ effort.

Key Performers – Rockets

For the Rockets, Jalen Green led the charge with 28 points in the losing effort. Rookie Amen Thompson impressed with a double-double, scoring 20 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Alperen Şengün also posted a double-double, finishing with 21 points and 10 rebounds.

Postgame, the atmosphere in the Kings’ locker room was jubilant. Malik Monk praised the lively crowd at Golden 1 Center, saying, “I loved the energy tonight.”

Up Next

The Kings will remain at home to host the Washington Wizards on Sunday at 6 PM PST. As of this writing, the Wizards hold the league’s worst record at 6-33.

Cameron Indoor Statement: No. 16 Duke Snatches Cal’s Women, 72-38

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By Morris Phillips

DURHAM, NC–Coach Charmin Smith admitted facing highly regarded Duke wasn’t a great matchup for her Bears. But it was the biggest game of the season thus far, and she rightly expected her group’s competitive juices would surface.

The Bears competed, but they did so with multiple Blue Devils clawing and scratching for every available basketball. At first, Duke was annoying. In the second quarter, annoying became acute, causing Smith to call a timeout trailing 25-11. That timeout preceded another shot miss and two turnovers in less than a minute. The rout was cemented, and Duke ran off, winning 72-38.

“We weren’t able to handle the pressure well enough today to get any type of good looks for our scorers,” Smith said. “It was a rough night.”

Cal’s turnovers were game killers. A season-high 31 included 13 from Marta Suarez and Ioanna Krimili combined alone. That had both preoccupied and caused Smith to try other options briefly. Lulu Twidale saw so many Duke defenders leaping at her in closeouts, it’s not clear that she saw the basket when she finally made one late in the third quarter. Kayla Williams may have gotten the worse just by counting each time she had to pick herself off the floor after a Blue Devil leveled her to prevent a quality shot.

I thought it was a complete defensive performance by our group,” coach Kara Lawson said.

Zahra King, Cal’s freshman point guard, entrusted to maintain control of the basketball when Cal’s primary options failed may have suffered the telling moment of the evening when Duke defensive specialist Taina Mair ripped the basketball from King with such force that she found herself falling out of bounds. But Mair simply threw the basketball off King to maintain possession, which left King both speechless and action-less.

“I thought she was maybe the most impactful player in the game for us,” Lawson said of starting guard Mair, who was scoreless. “Her intensity, her competitiveness, her edge, how she disrupted, point of attack defense, five assists, one turnover, four steals. She just demanded her space out there. I told her that after the game. There’s so many more ways to impact winning other than scoring.”

Cal managed to get up 22 shots before halftime, a number rivaled by their 17 turnovers. The second half saw the Blue Devils grab 13 offensive rebounds, which severely limited Cal’s comeback hopes. The Cameron Indoor Stadium scoreboard captured it all, which wasn’t much. The Bears scored nine points in the second quarter and seven points in the third.

“They played phenomenal defense, and we really struggled with it,” Smith said.

Toby Fournier had 23 points, 11 rebounds to pace the hosts. Ashlon Jackson added 16, and Reigan Richardson had 14. Williams led Cal with 8 points.

Cal seeks a split in North Carolina on Sunday at Wake Forest, a team that couldn’t avoid an 0-6 start in ACC play on Thursday when their late comeback against Stanford fell short. The Demon Deacons are the only ACC without a conference win.

Utah HC Surrenders 3 Goals In The Third In 5-3 Loss To Rangers

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New York Rangers center Vincent Trocheck (16) takes the puck against the Utah Hockey Club’s center Clayton Keller (9) in the first period at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thu Jan 18, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Utah loses 5-3 in back-to-back games as home struggles persist.

The Utah Hockey Club welcomed the New York Rangers to Delta Center on Thursday night for their second matchup of the season. Utah previously defeated the Rangers in New York 6-5 in overtime last October.

Mattias Maccelli lit the lamp just 61 seconds into the game for his 6th of the season, assisted by Barrett Hayton and Ian Cole, to give Utah the early lead. Artemi Panarin netted his 18th of the season just a couple of minutes later to tie things up for the Rangers, assisted by Alexis Lafreniere. At 8:12 of the first it was Maccelli again, crashing the net to knock in a rebound for his 7th goal, assisted by Barrett Hayton and Mikhail Sergachev, to put Utah up 2-1. With just a few minutes remaining in the opening frame, New York forward Arthur Kaliyev evened things up again at 2-2 with his first goal in a Rangers uniform since coming to the Empire State from the Kings.

Utah opened the second period on the power play, courtesy of a high-sticking penalty to Arthur Kaliyev late in the first. Less than a minute into the period, Logan Cooley one-timed a perfect pass from captain Clayton Keller for his 13th goal of the season with the additional assist going to Nick Schmaltz, giving Utah its third one-goal lead of the game. New York threatened to even things up once again during a 74-second 5-on-3 power play, but goatender Karel Vejmelka and his defense held the Rangers off and finished the period holding on to a 3-2 edge.

A cross-checking penalty to Alexis Lafrenière at the end of the second period gave Utah another opportunity to begin a new period on the power play. This time, however, it was New York converting a short-handed goal by Reilly Smith to tie things up once again at 3-3. Midway through the frame, the Rangers gave Utah fans another case of déjà vu all over again when Chris Kreider put New York up 4-3 with his 14th goal of the season, assisted by Sam Carrick. With Vejmelka pulled for an extra attacker, Artemi Panarin scored his 19th of the season into an empty net to put the game away 5-3.

The loss is Utah’s 7th of their last 8 at home where they have won just 6 out of 21 games this season.

After the game, Utah Hockey Club head coach André Tourigny said, “I think that we did a lot of good things, to be honest. I’m disappointed; it’s another loss by one shot. I think that we played really good again in the first half of the game. I didn’t mind the way we played in the second half–don’t get me wrong. Against Montreal, I didn’t like some stuff…Same thing against the Islanders. Not tonight. I think we played hard. The way they scored their two goals in the third period–those things will happen, but I think we deserved better tonight.” When asked about not letting frustration boil over, Tourigny responded, “It does boil. That’s why I’m proud of the guys today–because we approached that game with an unbelievable mindset. They were tuned in, their body language was good, they were positive, they were picking up each other, we worked hard. I said before (that) the other team is a factor in the game. That’s a good team. At some point, whatever or how good you play, they will make good plays. The puck will bounce over your stick…something will happen. They will have good times on the other side. Even in those moments, we battled hard (and) we played well. A broken stick in our zone; there was no panic, we defended well, we kept them on the outside (and) they could not get anything going. I loved the approach. I loved the resilience of the guys. I loved the fight. I’m so disappointed for the players first, for everybody, for the team. But it’s frustrating to see not getting (rewarded) for playing well.”

Utah returns to the ice for their sixth game of the homestand on Saturday at 7:00pm against the St. Louis Blues. Utah won their previous matchup 4-2 in St. Louis in November.

G League Action: Kings get revenge score 38 points in 4th quarter to defeat Stars 120-111

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The Stockton Kings guard Dexter Dennis looks to pass the ball against the Salt Lake City Stars at Maverik Center in West Valley Utah on Thu Jan 16, 2025 (Stockton Kings X photo)

By William Espy

After a disappointing loss to the Salt Lake City Stars on Tuesday, the Stockton Kings had revenge on their mind as they returned to the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah.

The Kings got out to an early 27-19 lead in the first quarter, and maintained it through the second. Salt Lake City had a high-scoring third quarter which put them in the lead heading into the final frame with the opportunity to sweep the back-to-back between the two teams. An explosive 38 points in the final quarter shot Stockton back into the lead, and they’d walk away with a 120-111 win.

The difference was ultimately the Kings’ ability to have multiple offensive options. They had five players score 17 or more points, led by an unlikely hero, Antoine Davis who finished the night with 20 points. Strong contributions from Skal Labissiere, Terry Taylor, Isaiah Crawford and Dexter Dennis helped the Kings get back to their winning ways.

Davis had a phenomenal night from beyond the arc, as he went 6-10 from three-point range.

Mason Jones struggled a bit shooting 4-11 on the night, but as one of Stockton’s top performers this season they’ll certainly hope to see him back to his normal level of play next time out.

Meanwhile for the Stars, Taevion Kinsey and Justin Lewis not only led the team in points but were very efficient with their shot selection. Kinsey finished with 28 points, going 12-16 from the field while Lewis went 8-11, ending up with a total of 23 points. If Dereon Seabron was able to hit a few more of his shots for Salt Lake City, it could’ve been a much different story. He was 4-15 in general, but went 0-4 from three-point range.

Rebounds also went firmly in Stockton’s favor, as they ended the night leading 46-34 in that regard. Jon Elmore had a strong night defensively, leading both teams in steals with three on the night.

It was a big win for Stockton, as they solidified their position in the standings. They’re currently second in the Western Conference, and they’re quickly establishing themselves as a major contender in the G-League.

The Kings’ next match up will be a massively important one, as they’ll face the leaders of the Western Conference, the Santa Cruz Warriors on the road. The Warriors have spent their entire season on the road so far, so Stockton will have added pressure as Santa Cruz will certainly want to put on a show for their home fans in their home opener