Mental Mistakes Doom Gulls

The harder they play the harder they seem to fall.

No one doubted the Gulls’ work ethic Tuesday night at the Sports Arena.

It’s just the brain didn’t always kick in as the Gulls blitzed around the ice in front of 3,762 against Peoria, and the the Rivermen clinched a playoff spot with a 7-4 International Hockey League victory.

The Gulls (26-33-7) clinched the notion that they might have a confidence problem.

“We’re playing hard,” Ron Duguay said. “But it goes back to the confidence thing. We created goal opportunities, but you have to have confidence.”

Duguay scored in the second period, but his three missed opportunities contributed to a losing, but physically grueling cause.

Coach Mike O’Connell seconded the notion that no one gave up, instead, he pointed to mental breakdowns.

“I don’t understand,” he said. “We play well enough to win physically, but we make those stupid mistakes that end up in our net.”

With Peoria leading 4-2 after two periods, the Rivermen and Gulls exchanged goals twice, with the hosts twice closing to within one.

At 1:27, Darcy Norton scored his ninth goal in 15 games through a crowd on a rebound.

Peoria’s David O’Brien stormed back with the goal that made it 5-3. Twenty-five seconds later, Mike Sullivan pulled the Gulls back to 5-4 on a little wrist shot from 10 feet out.

Then the man with the golden stick did what he does best.

David Bruce scored his IHL-leading 57th goal at 15:09 on a shot that hit goalkeeper Alain Chevrier’s shoulder then dropped in.

Peoria (45-13-3) scored with 31 seconds remaining for the 7-4 finale.

In beating the division leaders Sunday, the Gulls went 3-for-4 on the power play.

Tuesday, Peoria returned the favor, going 3-for-4 with a man advantage in the first two periods.

The Gulls have scored more power-play goals, but others are more effective in converting opportunities.

Peoria, for example. Going into this game, the Rivermen, with 28.5%, have the best power play percentage, followed by Fort Wayne’s 24.8% and the Gulls’ 24.0%.

As the Gulls demonstrated over the weekend, the can play with the best, they just fritter away golden opportunities.

Most memorable was the head shaking that went on during much of the first two periods:

--Duguay shook his head at 12:55 in the first after a sure-thing goal was ruled void because it didn’t cross the goal line. The shaking would be repeated twice.

--Chevrier shook his head when Peoria went up 4-1 at 13:54 in the second. He must have known the Gulls have never rallied from a three-point deficit.

--Soren True shook his head when Peoria goalie John Blue made one of his timely 18 saves in the second.

Blue’s goaltending left the Gulls feeling that way, although Chevrier wasn’t overshadowed. They stopped a combined eight shots in the first, and 31 in the second.