Rivermen Get Quick Start, Roll Up 9-3 Victory Over Gulls

Anything that tasted that great couldn’t possibly be good for you.

Ask the Gulls, who seemed to have taken that early childhood lesson to heart in an 9-3 International Hockey League loss to Peoria Tuesday night, in front of 3,789 at the San Diego Sports Arena.

For the past 10 days, the Gulls--victorious in four of their last five games going into the series against Peoria--have flirted with success. But the rebuff by the Rivermen Tuesday was cold and calculating.

Peoria built up a 6-1 lead by the third period, when the Gulls staged a comeback attempt that fell flat. The closest the Gulls got was 7-3, on a power-play goal by right wing Brent Sapergia, with 13:57 remaining.

“We have to get better performances from the players we have out there,” Gulls Coach Mike O’Connell said. “It’s unacceptable.”

Things got bad enough to see not one, but two Peoria players, Steve Tuttle and David Bruce, who leads the league in scoring and points, score hat tricks. Their goals made it 9-3.

So the offense sputtered, the defense looked like someone should administer smeling salts, and the Gulls left the ice with their tails between their legs.

But remember, this was the Western Division-leading Rivermen, who have won nine straight. Sure, they’re good, but O’Connell wouldn’t hear of any of it as an excuse.

“Peoria is a very strong team, excellent . . . But we seem to get into these situations as a team where we forget what was successful for us. Unfortunately, it takes a loss like this for our players to realize that maybe we weren’t ready.”

After the Rivermen scored their sixth goal, Scott Brower replaced Glen Hanlon in goal for the Gulls.

Peoria’s Nelson Emerson scored first in the third for the 7-1 lead.

Shortly after that, the officials ruled against the Gulls, and took away what appeared to be a goal by Charlie Simmer. It was ruled that the puck had redirected off his skate.

Simmer made it 7-2 on a power-play slapshot from the high slot 12:47.