The next two games are against the Pacific division leading Tucson Roadrunners! Gonna be interesting!
For sure it is -- these are also effectively the two games in hand that the Gulls have had over the Reign for what seems like forever -- after Wednesday, the teams will be level on games played with 11 games remaining each. The Gulls will have a lead of between two and six points going into that final 11-game sprint, depending how the Roadrunner games go. The Gulls and Reign play each other three times in those final 11 games. (The other 8 break down as 3 each against 2nd-place Colorado and 3rd-place Stockton, and 1 each against 6th-place Bakersfield and last-place San Jose).
Speaking of the Roadrunners, if you hadn't been watching closely, you might not realize that Tucson and San Diego have evenly split the season series so far: three wins apiece, all in regulation, with the goals nearly identical (Gulls have 21, Roadrunners have 20). Oddly, the individual games have not always been competitive, with the average margin of victory in the six games being just about three goals... another way of saying it, is the typical outcome is a 5-2 game for one side or the other. The Gulls won three and lost one at home, while the Roadrunners are 2-0 against the Gulls in Tucson. These two are the last regular-season matchups between the teams. Tucson comes in on a three-game winning streak, while the Gulls have gotten standings points in their last four, dating back to their last regulation loss... to the Roadrunners in Tucson back on Feb. 26.
