Palm Desert, CA – The Tucson Roadrunners (21-17-8-0) couldn’t overcome an early deficit in a 6–1 loss to the Coachella Valley Firebirds (26-15-5-0) on Friday at Acrisure Arena. Roadrunners rookie Jack Ricketts scored Tucson’s lone goal, while Andrew Agozzino and Ryan McGregor each recorded an assist.
Coachella Valley struck early and never looked back. Andrei Loshko opened the scoring just over four minutes into the game, and Jani Nyman doubled the Firebirds’ lead just 21 seconds into the second period. Coachella Valley pulled away in the third, adding goals from Logan Morrison and Eduard Šalé to extend the advantage to four.
Ricketts broke up Victor Östman’s shutout bid with just over eight minutes remaining, finishing a one-timer from the low slot to cut the deficit to 4–1. The Firebirds tacked on two late goals in the closing minutes, with Lleyton Roed scoring an empty-netter and Gustav Olofsson adding another.
The Roadrunners are now 2-2-0-0 through the first four games of their five-game road trip. Despite the loss, Tucson remains in seventh place in the Pacific Division with 50 points, holding the final playoff spot – six points ahead of the Henderson Silver Knights and three points back of the San Diego Gulls. With the win, Coachella Valley moved past the San Jose Barracuda into fourth place with 57 points.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Rookie Jack Ricketts scored his third goal of the season, extending his point streak to a season-high three games.
- During his current streak, Ricketts has three goals and four points over his last three games.
- Ryan McGregor recorded his ninth assist of the season, moving within one of matching last season’s total and five shy of his career high of 14 set during the 2020–21 season.
- Andrew Agozzino recorded his 10th assist of the season and now has two points (1G, 1A) over his last three games dating back to Jan. 21 vs. COL.
- Agozzino has eight points (5G, 3A) in his last 11 games dating back to Jan. 16 vs. SD.
THE RUNDOWN
FIRST PERIOD
Both teams traded quality chances early before Coachella Valley opened the scoring at 4:28. Andrei Loshko buried a rebound off Lleyton Roed’s blocked shot to give the Firebirds a 1–0 lead.
As the pace picked up, the physicality followed, as both sides engaged in a couple of post-whistle scrums before the halfway point of the period.
Just before the 10-minute mark, Roadrunners goaltender Matthew Villalta made a sprawling save on Jakov Novak’s point-blank attempt to keep it a one-goal game. Defenseman Dmitri Simashev was whistled for slashing on the play while preventing a rebound opportunity, giving Coachella Valley the game’s first power play. Tucson’s penalty kill stood firm, however, and stifled the Firebirds’ man advantage to keep the Roadrunners within striking distance.
Late in the period, Roadrunners forward Cameron Hebig generated a pair of quality chances with just over two minutes remaining. Hebig rifled a shot from the left circle off the post before redirecting Lleyton Moore’s point shot from the low slot that narrowly missed wide.
SECOND PERIOD
Coachella Valley wasted no time doubling their lead and scored just 21 seconds into the period. Logan Morrison intercepted an attempted breakout pass and fed Jagger Firkus, who set up Jani Nyman for a one-timer that beat Vilalta glove-side to make it 2–0.
Three minutes later, Robbie Russo drew a roughing penalty on Ian McKinnon to give the Roadrunners their first power play of the night, but Tucson was unable to capitalize.
Tucson nearly broke through midway through the period with a pair of quality chances. Andrew Agozzino forced a turnover behind the Coachella Valley goal line while goaltender Victor Östman was caught behind his net, but Östman recovered in time to deny Ryan McGregor’s one-timer at 8:43. Just 30 seconds later, Ben McCartney led a two-on-one rush with Miko Matikka, but Östman slid across to make a point-blank save on Matikka’s one-timer.
The sustained pressure forced Novak to take a slashing penalty at 9:32, giving the Roadrunners their second power play of the period, but Tucson again came up empty. Despite not converting on the man advantage, the Roadrunners controlled possession for much of the frame and held the Firebirds without a shot on goal for nearly seven minutes.
Coachella Valley generated a late push, firing eight consecutive shots on goal over the final five minutes and change to close the period. Vilalta made one of his best saves of the night in the final seconds, denying Firkus on a rebound attempt with two seconds remaining to keep Tucson within two heading into the second intermission.
THIRD PERIOD
Needing a pair of goals in the final 20 minutes, the Roadrunners pressured early and drew a slashing penalty on Ty Nelson 2:48 into the period. Tucson was unable to convert on the power play but continued to hem the Firebirds in their own zone.
Despite not registering a shot on goal through the first five minutes of the frame, Coachella Valley capitalized on its first opportunity. Morrison snapped a wrist shot past Villalta at 5:53 to extend the Firebirds’ lead to 3–0.
Just before the halfway point of the period, Eduard Šalé went bar down with a quick wrister from the bottom of the right circle at 9:06 to push the lead to 4–0.
A little over two-and-a-half minutes later, Roadrunners rookie Jack Ricketts broke up Östman’s shutout bid and buried a one-timer from the low slot at 11:41 to make it 4-1. Agozzino set up the scoring chance by carrying the puck behind the net and finding Ricketts driving toward the crease to make it 4–1.
Coachella Valley added two late goals in a span of just over a minute to close out the scoring. Roed buried an empty-net goal at 17:03 before Gustav Olofsson scored off the rush at 18:09 to seal a 6–1 final.
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