A Tough Start for the San Diego Sabers

The San Diego Sabers faced the Ontario Jr. Reign once again in a two-game series this past weekend. Game 1 of the two-game series was at Ontario Center Ice Arena on Saturday, September 21, 2024 which resulted in a 10-5 final score. Game 2 took place on home ice at Carlsbad Icetown on Sunday, September 22, 2024 and resulted in a final score of 5-1. The San Diego Sabers lost both games this past weekend. 

Saturday, September 21, 2024

Game 1: Ontario Jr. Reign 10, San Diego Sabers 5

Despite the game going in the Ontario Jr. Reign’s favor, the San Diego Sabers had a very strong start to Game 1 before losing momentum during the second half of the game. Saber’s Briar Dickson opened up the game and struck first on Ontario Jr. Reign’s home ice 50 seconds into the first period after being assisted by Caleb Murray and Jeremy Adkins. This was followed up by Reign’s Darian Sinclair scoring 1 minute and 10 seconds later and made it a tied game (1-1). Sabers answered back when Garrett Baxter assisted a Saber’s goal scored by Kai Shepherd and momentarily made it a one-goal game (2-1). After the Sabers were called for cross-checking, Reign’s Luke Cannon scored a power play goal which tied the game up once again (2-2). Aidan Cosgrove momentarily broke the tie with a power play goal which was assisted by Liam Krupcyznski and Knut Hornkvist (3-2). A little over a minute later, Reign’s Christopher Lai scored a goal which would end the first period tied with a score of 3-3. Parker Lewis was in net for the San Diego Sabers and saved 6 out of the 9 Reign shots on goal while Josh Henson was in net for the Ontario Jr. Reign and saved 7 out of 10 shots on goal. The first period overall went back and forth in regards to goal scoring, whenever one team scored, the other answered back which made for a highly anticipated second period.

Ontario Jr. Reign took over the second period and scored 3 goals before the San Diego Sabers made a goaltender change from Parker Lewis to Mikhail Saratovtsev (6-3). Unfortunately, Saratovtsev let one goal past him before Sabers’ Sam Bailey scored a power play goal, assisted by Liam Krupcyznski and Knut Hornkvist which momentarily cut the goal deficit by three goals (7-4). Reign’s Dylan Gerber answered back with a power play goal of their own and extended their lead once again (8-4). Sabers ended the period with 16 shots on goal and Reign ended with 19 shots on goal. 

The momentum of the Reign carried into the third period and Christopher Lai recorded the first hat-trick of the 2024-2025 regular season for Ontario Jr. Reign with a power play goal scored within the first few minutes of the period (9-4). The Reign would score another power play goal during the second half of the third period to extend their lead (10-4). Sabers made one last push during the second half of the period and recorded their last goal of this game which was scored by Bryce Alexander, assisted by Liam Krupcyznski. This goal made the final score 10-5 in Ontario Jr. Reign’s favor. Saber’s Mikhail Saratovtsev saved a total of 23 out of 277 shots after taking over for Parker Lewis who saved 11 out of 17 shots on goal. Reign’s Nikolas Charles saved 28 out of 30 shots on goal before taking over for Josh Henson who saved 7 out of 10 shots on goal. The Sabers struggled on the power play despite scoring on 2 out of their 6 attempts in comparison to Reign's 4 out of 5 successful power play goals. 

Sunday, September 22, 2024

Game 2: Ontario Jr. Reign 5, San Diego Sabers 1

The first period of Game 2 ended in a standstill as neither team was able to score despite the Reign having two power play opportunities and the Sabers having one power play opportunity. Both teams' respective goaltenders, Domenik McInenly (Reign) and Mikhail Saratovtsev (Sabers) remained strong and did not let any of the 12 shots on goal past them. 

Ontario Jr. Reign took control of the second period and maintained puck possession throughout the period which ended with them having 24 shots on goal while the Sabers ended the second period with 9 shots on goal. Despite not taking advantage of their power play opportunities, the Reign scored the first two goals of the game while the Sabers were yet to score in this game (2-0). Sabers’ goaltender, Mikhail Saratovtsev saved 22 out of 24 shots on goal during the second period while Reign’s Domenik McInenly saved all of Sabers’ 9 shots on goal. 

Sabers’ struck first in the third period with an unassisted goal scored by Liam Krupcyznski and made it a one-goal game (2-1). The Sabers struggled to score on their multiple power play opportunities and the Reign took advantage of them instead to extend their lead and make the final score 5-1 after scoring three shorthanded goals. Sabers’ goaltender, Mikhail Saratovtsev saved 7 out of 10 shots on goal during the third period while Reign’s Domenik McInenly saved 12 out of Sabers’ 13 shots on goal. Overall, Ontario Jr. Reign had a total of 46 shots on goal and the San Diego Sabers ended with 34 shots on goal. Both teams struggled on their man-advantages, however, the Ontario Jr. Reign was able to come up on top and keep their crown. 

Based on how the previous games went, it is evident that the San Diego Sabers do have the potential to go far as they have had strong starts to game, however, being able to maintain that momentum as well as taking advantage of their power play opportunities may be something that they need to work on. Despite facing hardships during both weekends against the Ontario Jr. Reign, it will be interesting to watch how things unfold in this weekend’s games as the San Diego Sabers face three other teams in the USPHL Pacific Division.

The scheduled for this weekend’s games:

Game 1 | Thursday, September 26, 2024 | Lakewood Ice (Away)

• San Diego Sabers (0-2-0-0) will face the Long Beach Bombers (0-4-0-0) on Thursday, September 26, 2024 at 7:00 PM PDT. This game will be located at Lakewood Ice. 

  • Watch on FloHockey

Game 2 | Friday, September 27, 2024 | Valley Childrens Ice Center (Away)

• San Diego Sabers (0-2-0-0) will face the Bakersfield Roughnecks (2-1-0-0)  on Friday, September 27, 2024 at 7:30 PM PDT. This game will be located at Valley Childrens Ice Center.

  • Watch on FloHockey

Game 3 | Saturday, September 27, 2024 | Carlsbad Icetown (Home)

• The San Diego Sabers (0-2-0-0) will face the Ventura Vikings  (2-2-0-0) on Saturday, September 28, 2024 at 8:00 PM PDT. This home game will be located at Carlsbad Icetown.

  • Watch on FloHockey

Will the San Diego Sabers be able to persevere and use their losses this past weekend as determination in their upcoming games? Comment down below and tune in this week to find out.

Come back for the next San Diego Sabers’ weekly recap of the 2024-2025 USPHL regular season!