No Love Lost Between Reno & Santa Rosa in Valentine's Split

Feb 175 min read

Updated: Feb 17

By Phillip Goodman

February 17, 2025

The Ice Raiders and Growlers embattled history dates back to January 2015 when the NorCal Ice Raiders fought the Santa Rosa Junior College squad which eventually evolved into the Senior-A Growlers. Over the years, Santa Rosa has had the upper hand winning six of eight meetings.

The Reno Ice Raiders put a stop to Santa Rosa's streak when Adrian Nicholas tipped in a Julian Herrera shot in overtime for a 7-6 Valentine's Day win in front of the loudest, most energetic Friday night sold out crowd The Jennifer M. O’Neal Community Ice Arena has seen to date. Saturday was a more subdued story as the Growlers answered with a 3-1 win. Between the pipes, Justin Sand won Friday's match for Reno while Mark Shacker held on for Santa Rosa on Saturday.

With the split, Reno is 13-5-2 overall and still an impressive 9-2-1 at home. Santa Rosa takes the season series 3-1 with two of those games needing extra time.

Three minutes into the series presented by Maxwell's Barber Shop , Johnny Garrity deflected Andrew Peterson's shot from the blue line to put Reno up 1-0. The visitors in maroon responded moments later with a power play goal to tie the game 1-1.

With Nathan Hogge in the penalty box for defending a teammate, Bobby Watson blocked a Growler power play shot at the blue line which created a breakaway for himself and Watson tucked in a shorthander putting Reno back up 2-1.

Santa Rosa put up the next three goals on Reno - a nifty individual effort, a sneaky wrister on a 2-on-1 break, and a freakishly long rebound off the glass that landed on a Growler stick who used the confusion and defender as a screen for another wrister goal.

Despite being somewhat stunned by the first period flurry of goals, the Ice Raiders came out of the intermission pumping on all cylinders. Alex Gunnoe skated around everyone and rifled a Brewer's Cabinet Power Play goal to bring Reno within one at 3-4.

Again the Growlers pushed the lead back to two until Alex Gunnoe lasered another one top shelf on the Brewer's Cabinet Power Play, cutting Reno's deficit back to 4-5.

With 90 ticks to go in the middle frame, Santa Rosa's power play unit created a scramble in front of Sand and an open winger swept in a lucky bounce for the 6-4 Growler lead.

Befitting a Valentine's Day contest, the overwhelming love between rivals spanning nearly a decade finally erupted at the end of the second period. When the dust settled and the ice was resurfaced, the third period started with three Growlers and two Ice Raiders sitting for a combined 25 PIMS. Reno was unable to score on their major power play.

Growlers clung to their two-goal lead through three-quarters of the third period. On a rush, the puck deflected to Jeff Jiron trailing the entry. Jiron's wrister bounced off Shacker's facemask and the former baseball catcher Johnny Garrity batted in the rebound bringing Reno within one at 5-6.

Just 76 seconds later, Nathan Hogge blasted a 55-foot slapshot over the shoulder of his old Arizona State Sun Devil teammate to tie the game at 6-6.

The Growlers pressed hard for the deciding goal in the final minute but Justin Sand made the Maxwell's Barber Shop Close Shave Save of the Game and possibly the season to send the game to overtime.

Julian Herrera, who battled through flu symptoms all night, was paired with Reno Ice Youth Coach Adrian Nicholas in the OT. Herrera stole the puck from a Growler in the neutral zone and made a slick pass to Nicholas whose left wing shot caromed around to Herrera on the right wall. The Growlers defenders got confused on the coverage leaving Nicholas all alone to screen Shacker. Nicholas deflected Herrera's right wing shot past Shacker to complete one of the biggest comeback wins in Ice Raiders' history.

"That was the loudest I've ever heard this arena," said Reno Assistant Coach Jamie Tebbe, who deserves kudos for guiding the Ice Raiders to both wins the previous weekend in Mansfield, TX.

"Our fans made it feel like we had an extra player on the ice with us," said Head Coach Tim Tookey. "They were the loudest I have ever heard in our building."

How evenly are these rivals matched? Both teams had 38 shots on goal and Reno earned the slightest edge in faceoffs 39-37. Reno went 2-for-7 on their Brewer's Cabinet Power Plays and 2-for-8 on Peterson Wealth Management Penalty Kills. Reno had 16 penalties while Santa Rosa had 14 all totaling 81 PIMS.

In stark contrast to Friday's love fest, Saturday's affair began with the Growlers pouncing on the Ice Raiders from the opening draw driving one past Sand only eight seconds in.

Reno had an opportunity to tie the score and more when they were given a five-minute power play because Johnny Garrity was violently slashed on the back by a Growler. Less than a minute into the major, Reno took a penalty in the offensive zone, negating two of the five minutes and Santa Rosa killed the remaining three in a pivotal moment of the night.

Santa Rosa added two more even-strength goals at 10:36 and 1:20 leaving the Ice Raiders and fans shell shocked by the first intermission.

Early in the second period, Ellis O'Dowd's one timer rocketed off the boards, hopped over a Growler stick and right to Bobby Watson who slammed home Reno's lone tally of the night.

The Ice Raiders defense and goaltending remained staunch the rest of the game and did not yield a goal. Sand made 24 saves on 27 shots and while Shacker made 30 saves on 31. Both squads were 0-for-4 on their respective power plays. The teams combined for only nine penalties and 21 PIMS, a 75% discount from the previous evening.

"I am very proud of the guys for never giving up in both games," said Coach Tookey. "We had to kill off a lot of penalties and that makes it hard to keep everyone involved in the game. We need to cut down on the penalties. It was a very mentally and physically tough weekend for the guys. They need to get some rest and we need to have better starts next weekend."

The Ice Raiders' intrastate rivals the Sin City Kings make one more trip north for a series presented by Goettl Air. Reno owns the lifetime series 12-0 over the Kings. Limited tickets are available on Eventbrite.

Proceeds totaling over $6,500 from the 50/50 opportunity drawing and lavender jersey auction benefited Cancer Community Clubhouse, a Northern Nevada non-profit whose mission is to empower the lives of people affected by cancer in Northern Nevada through connection, education, hope, and healing from diagnosis through survivorship.

If you were not able to attend the games or bid on the jerseys, you can still help the CCC. Please go to www.cancercommunityclubhouse.org and make your tax-deductible donation today.

Friday's LT Automotive Stats of the Game

Johnny Garrity - 2G (E)

Bobby Watson - 1G (SH), 1A

Alex Gunnoe - 2 PPG

Nate Hogge - 1G (GTG)

Adrian Nicholas - 1G (GWG)

Andrew Peterson - 2A

Julian Herrera - 1A

Jeff Jiron - 1A

Saturday's LT Automotive Stats of the Game

Bobby Watson - 1G, unassisted

Justin Sand - 24 saves, 0 PPGA