It was too much Tye Kurtz as the Albany forward’s six goals and nine points doomed San Diego, as the Seals fell 12-10 on Saturday night in a crucial late-season contest at the MVP Arena in Albany.

Kurtz scored his sixth of the night in the fourth quarter, a quarter in which the FireWolves outscored San Diego 3-1, to break a 9-9 tie and claim the victory.

The Seals dug themselves an early hole, falling behind early 3-1 after surrendering a pair of power play goals, but they rallied with three late scores off the sticks of Jake Govett, Wes Berg, and Ben McIntosh to lead 4-3 after one quarter.

The teams played even up in the second, scoring three goals apiece. The Seals were again outscored 3-1 to open the quarter, including giving up a short-handed goal, but they responded with two late goals to go to the locker room ahead 7-6 at halftime. Those two goals came from rookie Pat Kavanagh, who was making his long-awaited NLL debut, and veteran forward Ryan Benesch. For Kavanagh, the goal was the first of his NLL career, and for Benesch, he simply flung a shot toward the net as the shot clock was winding down and it slipped past unsuspecting FireWolves goaltender Doug Jamieson.

Things got interesting in the third quarter as Albany outscored San Diego 3-2. The only goal scored during the opening 13:25 was Ben McIntosh’s second of the night that allowed San Diego to jump ahead 8-6. Fast forward to the 1:35 mark of the third when Kurtz scored his second power play goal and fourth goal of the night to get Albany within one at 8-7, and just 18 seconds later off the ensuing faceoff, the FireWolves’ Will Johansen picked up a loose ball outside the San Diego crease and he beat Seals goaltender Chris Origlieri to tie the game, 8-8. Just 16 seconds later and on the very next possession, Seals rookie Trent DiCicco scored unassisted to put the visitors back up 9-8, but with just 0.1 left in the quarter, Kurtz scored his fifth of the night off a long rebound from the side of the net and the teams went to the fourth all even at 9-9.

The fourth quarter featured just one Seals goal, Govett’s second of the night, while Albany got goals from former Seal Kyle Jackson, Kurtz, and an empty-net power play goal by Nick Chaykowsky. Origlieri left the game early in the fourth with an undisclosed injury and was replaced in net by Mike Poulin.

On the night, the Seals went 0-for-2 on the power play, while Albany converted four of its five chances and scored a short-handed goal.

With the loss, the Seals’ record falls to 8-9 while Albany ups theirs to 7-10. The teams will meet again on Friday, April 18, at 7:30 p.m. on Fan Appreciation Night at Pechanga Arena. Tickets for that game are available at https://www.sealslax.com/.

Photo courtesy: National Lacrosse League.