After splitting a pair of games last weekend, including an overtime victory in Texas against Panther City, the San Diego Seals (8-4) will look to get back in the win column this Saturday night when they host the Halifax Thunderbirds (7-5) at Pechanga Arena in a matchup that has potential playoff implications. The faceoff is at 7 p.m.
Tickets to Saturday night’s Seals-Thunderbirds matchup are on sale at https://sealslax.com/.
The Seals are looking to bounce back after losing their first game of the season at home last Saturday, 15-13, to the first-place Toronto Rock. At 7-5, Halifax sits just a game behind the Seals in the win-loss column but they’ve lost two of their last three, including a 12-11 loss at home to Georgia last Friday night.
This is just the second all-time meeting between the Seals and Thunderbirds. Halifax won the only prior meeting, 8-5, in Nova Scotia during the 2019-20 season.
Saturday night is Latin Heritage Night at Pechanga Arena. It will feature a Tailgate Fiesta that gets underway at 4:30 p.m. and an unforgettable evening of cultural celebrations that will include professional Lucha Libre wrestlers, high-flying acrobatic stunts, music, games, face painting and more.
Broadcast Information: Saturday night’s game will be broadcast locally in San Diego on KUSI-TV and streamed to a global audience on ESPN+.
Players to Watch
Austin Staats, fresh off a four-goal performance against Toronto ranks second in the NLL (and leads the team) with 36 goals this season. Combined with 37 assists, Staats has 73 points on the season, tied for third in the League.
Right behind Staats is team captain Wes Berg, whose 71 points are fifth in the NLL. Berg’s 29 goals are eighth in the League (2nd on the team behind Staats) and his 42 assists are tied for sixth in the NLL and lead the team.
Curtis “Superman” Dickson is third on the team with 24 goals, tied for 15th in the NLL.
Trevor Baptiste, the renowned faceoff specialist, is second in the League in faceoff wins (220). His 70% faceoff win percentage is third-best in the League and Baptiste’s 126 loose balls secured paces the team and ranks 2nd in the NLL.
Goalkeeper Chris Origlieri has the National Lacrosse League’s second-lowest goals against average (10.03) among starting netminders. He owns the NLL’s 3rd best save percentage among starters (79%), while he’s tied for third in the League with 460 saves on the season.
Defenseman Kyle Rubisch leads the Seals and is seventh in the NLL this season with 19 takeaways.
Head coach Patrick Merrill is looking to guide the Seals to a fourth-consecutive playoff appearance in 2023-24. With a regular-season won-loss ledger of 48-30 (.615) since joining the Seals in 2018, Merrill’s guided the team to the playoffs in each of the three full seasons he’s been at the helm, including a berth in the 2022 West Conference Finals.
What’s new: The NLL has done away with separating teams by conference and moving forward will feature single-table unified standings in which teams are ranked top-to-bottom regardless of geography. Starting this season, each team will play every other team in the League once and then teams will play four additional “flex” games that preserve established rivalries and fan interest, showcase games with impactful storylines and highlight star player matchups. At the end of the regular season, the best eight teams will have an opportunity to win the NLL Cup. And the playoffs will feature the No. 1 seed vs. No 8; No. 2 vs. No. 7; No. 3 vs. No. 6, and No. 4 vs. No. 5 in the quarterfinals, with a bracket-style advance through to the NLL Finals. The quarterfinal round will be single elimination, while the semi-finals and finals will continue to be best-of-three series.
Follow the Seals on Social Media: For the latest info on the Seals, visit https://www.sealslax.com/.
