SDSU Aztecs, Gulls hope better things in store as they skate into 2025

Photo by Paul Martinez San Diego’s Sasha Pastujov (16) looks to control the puck for a shot on the Tucson net during Saturday’s Gulls Fight Cancer Night at Pechanga Arena.

The San Diego State University Aztecs and San Diego Gulls are set to face off the remaining portion of their respective 2024-25 seasons.

Both ice hockey teams can only hope that the 2025 calendar year is more prosperous than the start.

SDSU has nine games remaining on its schedule and sits 0-14 in its first year in Western Collegiate Hockey League play while the Gulls have been stirring the pot in a bid to break out of the bottom third of the American Hockey League’s Pacific Division.

The Aztecs (4-15-0-0-1) have been idle since dropping a pair of home games – 8-0 and 5-2 — at the Kroc Center Ice Arena Dec. 6-7 to the University of Utah. The Utes piled up a 60-23 shot advantage in the first game against two SDSU netminders. Liam Dee stopped 45 of 53 shots while Brody Hsaio smothered all seven shots he faced in 8:40.

Utah led 1-0 after the first period (23-5 shot advantage) before breaking open the game with six second period tallies.

The Utes again dominated the shot count in the rematch with a 68-24 edge. The visitors led 22- 8 in shots in the first period but found themselves in a scoreless draw. Mason Brown opened scoring at 7:30 in the second period for a 1-0 SDSU lead, assisted by Marcus Kim. Brown scored an unassisted goal at 11:01 to push the Aztecs to a 2-0 lead.

Utah led in shots in the second period 23-8 and rallied with a pair of power play goals for a 2-2 draw through 40 minutes. Utah scored the only three goals in the third period. Hsiao racked up 63 saves on 68 shots in the setback while winner Lawrence Letey made 22 stops on 24 shots he faced.

Former SDSU goaltender Garrett Fuller did not face his former team in the two games.

Cameron Ferraz continues to lead SDSU in season scoring with 16 points (seven goals, nine assists) in 16 games, followed by Brown with 11 points (six goals, five assists) in 16 games and Lucas Bellig with 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in 20 games. Kim ranks fourth in team scoring with 10 points (one goal, nine assists) in 18 games.

SDSU resumes WCHL play with a pair of games Jan. 17-18 against the University of Oklahoma before traveling to Las Vegas for a pair of contests against nationally-ranked UNLV on Jan. 23-24.

The Aztecs host the University of Arizona Feb. 7-8 and UNLV Feb. 14-15. The final regular season game is Feb. 21 against UC San Diego at the Kroc Center.

UNLV is ranked third in the latest M1 ranking while Oklahoma is ranked 15th and Arizona is ranked 16th.

Several WCHL teams have favorable rankings to qualify for this year’s national championship tournament. Utah is ranked ninth while Grand Canyon University is ranked 13th.

In the least, local hockey fans will get to see some of the top club college teams to showcase themselves in upcoming games at the Kroc Center Ice Arena.

WCHL standings: UNLV 18-4-0-0- 1-1, 37 points, Oklahoma 13-5-2-0-0-1, 29 points, Colorado 12-10-1-0-2-1, 26 points, Utah 11-3-0-0-1-1, 23 points, Missouri State 10-10-2-0-0-0, 22 points, Grand Canyon University 9-9-0-0-0- 1, 19 points, Arizona 9-10-0-0-1-0, 18 points, Central Oklahoma 8-11-1-0-0-0, 17 points, Colorado State 7-9-2-0-1-0, 16 points, Arizona State 6-11-1-0-0-1, 14 points, SDSU 4-15-0-0-0-1, 9 points

Home Sweet Home

With eight home games in January, hockey fans will get to see a lot of hard-hitting action from the hometown Gulls as they approach the midpoint of their AHL season.

Overall, the Gulls will play 12 games during the month, including four road matchups.

The local ice team didn’t waste any time facing off the 2025 calendar portion of their schedule by hosting the San Joe Barracuda in a special New Year’s Day evening game. The Gulls trailed 1-0 through the first period but took a 2-1 lead into the third period with a strong second-period showing.

The hosts extended their lead to 3-1 on a penalty shot by Jan Mysak. But the Barracuda, ranking second in the Pacific Division standings, rallied with two third period goals to send the game into overtime.

San Jose won, 4-3, on an overtime goal by Lucas Carlsson at the 1:00 mark of the five-minute three-on-three period. It was his second goal of the game.

Sam Colangelo scored his 12th goal of the season at the 19:21 mark of the first period to knot the score, 1-1, while Nico Myatovic scored at the 17:31 mark of the second period to stake the hosts to a 2-1 lead.

Colangelo, a second-round draft pick by the NHL parent Anaheim Ducks in 2020, has already received two call-ups and will represent the Gulls at the upcoming AHL All-Star Classic Feb. 2-3 in Palm Desert, home of the Coachella Valley Firebirds.

At the time of his latest call-up, Colangelo led the Gulls in scoring with 22 points on 13 goals and nine assists. He topped AHL rookies with the 13 goals.

He scored his 13th goal of the season in a 3-2 overtime loss in Coachella Valley on Jan. 5. It was the Gulls’ second OT game in three outings and the seventh overall for the team this season.

Coangelo, a 23-year-old native of Stoneham, Mass., is making the most of his latest opportunity after netting his first NHL goal this season in a 5-2 loss in St. Louis on Jan. 9.

He is expected to remain with the Ducks on their current six-game road trip.

The Gulls faced off a five-game homestand on Jan, 8 with a rousing 5-1 win over the Iowa Wild . The hosts scored in every period. Carson Meyer, returning to the lineup from injury, scored two goals, including just 17 seconds into the first period while adding a power play goal in the second period. Goaltender Calle Clang stopped a season-high 38 saves to post the win.

The Gulls hosted the Tucson Roadunners, another team ahead of them in the division standings, by earning a split decision in a pair of tightly-played matchups, last weekend. The Gulls recorded a 3-2 win on Friday and a 4-2 loss on Saturday.

Gulls defenseman Dillon Heatherington played in his 500th career AHL game in Saturday’s contest, which remained in doubt until the Roadrunners scored an empty net goal with 42 seconds remaining in regulation.

Other upcoming home games include Wednesday, Jan. 15, in a rematch with the Wild and Saturday, Jan.18, against the division-leading Calgary Wranglers.

With a 6-2-1-1 record in their last 10 home games, the Gulls (11-19-3-2) have shown they can play winning hockey — and they’ll need to do that to make a climb up the standings.