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Jan. 11, 2002

The San Diego Gulls were 2:53 seconds away from losing their third straight against the Idaho Steelheads, but that's when Mark Pederson took over. San Diego's leading scorer tallied twice late in the third to lift the Blue and Orange to a 2-1 win Saturday night, before 6,710 at the San Diego Sports Arena.

The Gulls (21-12-1) stay four points ahead of the Bakersfield Condors for second place and move to within 10 points of front-running Idaho. San Diego finished its longest homestand of the season 5-2.

No one could light the lamp in the first period, but Idaho's Ben Keup had the best chance. Keup and Derek Paget, who connected with a goal last night, skated two-on-two into the Gulls zone. Trevor Koenig stopped Paget's wrist shot but left a fat rebound in the middle of the left circle. Keup pounced on the loose puck, but was denied by Koenig diving across the crease.

Teams remained at a standstill in the second period, but the Steelheads (26-8-3) had two more quality opportunities to breakthrough. Dan Shermerhorn had the first chance 4:44 into the middle frame, but Koenig beat him point-blank in front of the net. Some 33 seconds later Adam Copeland grabbed the puck right on the doorstep, but couldn't muster it past Koenig's right pad.

The scoreless duel continued until Cory Morgan finally scored 11:57 into the third period. Petr Suchanek, standing along the left boards, held in San Diego's clearing attempt and whistled a shot. Koenig saved it but Morgan was right there to backhand home his 15th goal.

San Diego evened things up on Pederson's first of the night with 2:53 left in the final stanza. Trent Clark whipped a pass to Pederson, whose blistering slap shot from the top of the slot eluded Jason Cugnet. It was the Blue and Orange's first goal in 121:19.

The heroics of Pederson came to the forefront again with his second tally – 16th of the season – with just 22.5 seconds left. Pederson snuck around the Idaho defense, took a pass from Dean Tiltgen and won the game for the Blue and Orange.

Notepad
Koenig needs three more wins for 100 in his WCHL career. He needs 10 more for 100 in his Gulls tenure… Steve Martinson is now 28-25-6 head-to-head against John Olver in the regular season. He's 333-90-23 all-time against everyone else… The Blue and Orange are 8-12-2 against Idaho since 2000-01… The Gulls played 254 regular season home games before getting shutout for the first time Friday night. (They've been blanked one time at home in the playoffs)… R.J. Enga played in his 500th straight professional game Friday. He hasn't missed a game since 1996… Dennis Purdie remains on injured reserve with a separated shoulder, but should return next week… Marc Busenburg and Rob Voltera remain with the AHL's Hershey Bears…

FEATURE ARTICLES
Goalies leave their legacy in WCHL
East meets West in final WCHL season
WCHL’s 2002-2003 makeover starts at the top
WCHL Training Camp Notepad
WCHL honors its own with organizational awards

AROUND THE WCHL
November 2002 Edition
October 2002 Edition
May 2002 Edition

GAME RECAPS
02/07/03: Condors 4, Gulls 3 (SO)
02/05/03: Gulls 2, Falcons 1
02/04/03: Falcons 8, Gulls 3
02/01/03: Steelheads 6, Gulls 5 (SO)
01/31/03: Gulls 3, Steelheads 2 (SO)

PROFILES IN HOCKEY
Enga is Gulls’ new ironman
Danielle Dube — pioneer, no; goaltender, yes
Greg Spenrath: Falcons lose a legend
Grandfather, grandson keep Gulls "all in the family"

PRESS RELEASES
Ice Dogs name Kaminski as head coach