Indianapolis Continues to Dominate Gulls

The Gulls’ two-game winning streak took an icy turn in an 8-2 defeat to the Indianapolis Ice in front of 7,403 at the State Fairgrounds Coliseum Friday.

The Gulls have not come close to winning in three games against the Ice this season, all in Indianapolis. Their previous defeats to Indianapolis, the defending IHL champions, have been by 6-1 and 9-0 scores.

The Gulls’ loss allowed the Phoenix Roadrunners to overtake them in the International Hockey League West Division standings. Phoenix defeated the Fort Wayne Komets, 5-3, Friday to move into third place.

The Gulls fell to 22-22-4 with 48 points, while the Roadrunners improved to 23-22-3 with 49 points.

The Ice (28-14-3) also improved in the standings, moving into a second-place tie with Fort Wayne (28-19-3) in the IHL East. Each team has 59 points.

The Ice, which has won five games in a row, got three goals in each of the second and third periods. Two of their goals were short-handed.

Jim Johansson and Mike McNeill each had two goals for the Ice and Carl Mokosak, who was traded away by the Gulls in October, had three assists.

McNeill, Alex Roberts and Trevor Dam each scored goals for Indianapolis in the third period against Scott Brower (8-8-3).

The Gulls will try to rebound tonight at Peoria. The Rivermen are in first place in the IHL West and 2-0-1 against the Gulls. The game will be televised live at 5:35 p.m. on the San Diego Cable Network, Channel 22.