The Coachella Valley Firebirds continued their winning ways, kicking off their inaugural Pride weekend in dominant fashion Saturday night at Acrisure Arena.
The Firebirds have had the San Jose Barracuda’s number all season, and Saturday was no different. They scored twice in the first period and took a 2-0 lead, and then they never looked back, they kicked and finished with a 4-0 victory.
It was the seventh straight win for the Firebirds and the tenth in 11 games. Coachella Valley is now 22-6-3 on the season and has grabbed sole possession of first place in the Pacific Division. Calgary, which was tied with them, did not play on Saturday. Coachella Valley outscored its opponents 44-21 in that stretch.
The Barracuda, the San Jose Sharks affiliate, have struggled against the Firebirds this season, losing all four matchups. Coachella Valley’s dominance may be why there seemed to be animosity between the two teams as a fight and multiple other altercations broke out during the game.
For the first day of Pride weekend at Acrisure Arena, the Firebirds donned special Pride jerseys. The base of these Pride jerseys was white while the Firebirds logo, number outlines and stripes on the edges of the jersey were decorated in Pride colors. The phrase “Rising Together” was also printed in light blue on the back of the jersey.
The jerseys will be worn again for Sunday’s home game against Ontario and will be available for online auction using the DASH Auction app. Proceeds from the online jersey auction will benefit LGBTQ+ youth organizations in the Coachella Valley.
Palm Springs Pride’s Asher Bisgaard officiated the ceremonial puck drop at the start of the game. Asher is the youngest volunteer for Palm Springs Pride 2022. Bisgaard volunteered in entertainment/catering during the recent Palm Springs Pride Festival and marched in the parade with their school’s Gay-Straight Alliance club in 2021 and 2022.
Goals
1-0 Firebirds: The first goal was scored by Brogan Rafferty five minutes into the first period. He opened up on the left side of the goal and scored from one ball. Assists went to Ryker Evans and Max McCormick.
2-0 Firebirds: Alexander True scored the second goal for the Firebirds midway through the first period on the power play. Cameron Hughes got open around the right side of the net and fired a shot into the net. True caught the puck with his stick and pushed it in for a goal. Assists were credited to Cameron Hughes and Brogan Rafferty.
3-0 Firebirds: The third goal came in the middle of the second period. Kole Lind stole the puck from a defender on the Barracuda court, and after a few passes it ended up in the hands of Cameron Hughes who scored from the left side of the net. Kole Lind and Alexander True were responsible for the assists.
4-0 Firebirds: The fourth goal of the game was scored by Carson Twarynski at the beginning of the third period. Assists went to Matt Tennyson and Luke Henman.
Desert Sun Firebirds game player
Joey Accord: Accord was in the Firebirds net the whole game. Despite the Barracuda outscoring the Firebirds by 39 shots, Accord didn’t concede a single hit, securing the shutout.
Ice cubes
Pride in full glory: The crowd at Acrisure Arena supported the LGBTQ+ community all night long. Fans were given Coachella Valley Firebirds flags emblazoned with Pride colors that were flown throughout the arena throughout the game to go along with all the other Pride festivities.
Domination over Barracuda: The Firebirds are now 4-0 all-time against the San Jose Barracuda. They have been outscored 21-4 and shut them out twice in four games.
