Shock Drop Inaugural Game In Fresno

The Oceanside Shock played their first-ever game in Federal Prospects Hockey League history, but they will have to wait at least until Saturday for their first win. Houston Wilson had two goals with two assists and Khristian Acosta added two goals of his own as the Fresno Falcons defeated the Shock 7-2 on Friday night from Selland Arena in Fresno, California in front of an announced crowd of 7,977.

The Falcons (1-0, 2 points) used a five-goal second period to break open a game that was scoreless after the first twenty minutes. Oceanside (0-1, 0 points) got the first goal in franchise history from Nick Wagner, and Ethan Yang added a third-period goal. The same twoteams meet on Saturday night in the Shock’s home opener at Frontwave Arena, a 6:05pm faceoff.

The first period saw the Shock defense put to the test, as the club was out-shot 22-8 and the penalty-kill unit was asked to play six of the first twenty minutes in franchise history. The first shift in team history ended with a slashing minor called against forward Brett Menton, leading to a Falcons power play just 1:03 into the frame. With 9:09 left in the period, the Shock were short-handed when Menton was whistled again, this time for tripping. With 4:04 left in the first, Vladimir Fadeev was sent to the box for his own tripping minor, only to see Fresno come up empty in all three power play attempts, as O’Shaughnessy made 13 saves in an ultimately scoreless first period.

The second was an entirely different manner, as Fresno poured in four goals in the opening 5:48. Acosta’s first at 0:58 opened the scoring, and Aaron Huffnagle added a second at 2:49. The Shock netted their first franchise goal on a good outmanned rush from the blue line in, as Nick Wagnerfinished a right-side net feed from James Spaargaren and Isaiah Frankel at 3:26. Quickly, the Falcons answered back on Acosta’s second of the period at 4:48. Oceanside thought they had their second goal when Falcons goaltender Austyn Roudebush dropped a rebound in his crease, but the referee lost sight of the puck and blew the play dead. On the very next rush down ice, Noah Finstrom’s goal at 5:48 made the score 4-1, instead ofthe 3-2 that could have been.

Oceanside gained six power play opportunities as the game progressed, but found themselves on the wrong side of a pair of short-handed goals from Fresno’s Houston Wilson, at 18:19 of the second period and 4:41 of the third period. The Shock broke through, holding a two-man advantage at 13:47 of the third, when Yang cleaned up a puck in front of the net after assists from Wagner and Vladimir Fadeev for the team’s first-ever power play goal. Austin Albrecht finished the scoring for Fresno on the power play at 4:58. The Falcons went 1-for-5 on the man advantage, the Shock 1-for-6 with two short-handed goals conceded.

The two teams will now bus down I-99 to the I-5, and prepare for their second of ten meetings this season in the Oceanside home opener on Saturday at 6pm. Tickets are available at frontwavearena.com, and the game broadcast will be available on the Oceanside Shock YouTube channel.