Seals look to inch closer to securing a spot in the NLL playoffs when they host Las Vegas Saturday night at Pechanga Arena.
Multi-platinum rock icon Bret Michaels set to perform postgame
The San Diego Seals, 10-4 and owning the National Lacrosse League’s second-best (tied) record, will host the Las Vegas Desert Dogs this Saturday night, March 23, at Pechanga Arena looking to inch closer to securing a spot in the NLL Playoffs. The game starts at 7 p.m. PT.
The Seals, who have won two straight and four of their last five, have just four games remaining, including Saturday night, in the regular season.
Saturday will be Military Appreciation Night at Pechanga Arena and the teams will celebrate local active duty and retired military members throughout the evening. And following the game, multi-platinum music icon Bret Michaels will perform a postgame concert for all fans in attendance.
Tickets to see both Michaels and the Seals and Desert Dogs start at just $15 and are on sale at https://sealslax.com/.
While the Seals come in near the top of the League standings, the Desert Dogs sit at the bottom with a record of 4-9. Las Vegas has lost three straight coming in though one of their four wins on the season was a 10-8 victory over the Seals in Sin City back on Jan. 12. It was the Seals’ first-ever loss to the Desert Dogs. Las Vegas joined the NLL prior to the 2022-23 season and the Seals swept each of the three prior meetings from last season, winning 15-12 in an outdoor game played at Snapdragon Stadium, 14-10 at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas and 14-4 at Pechanga Arena.
Broadcast Information: Saturday night’s game will be streamed exclusively to a global audience on ESPN+.
Players to Watch
Seals forward Curtis Dickson (527 career goals) needs two goals to pass Colin Doyle (528) for seventh on the National Lacrosse League’s all-time list. Last weekend, Dickson became the NLL’s 16th player to reach 1,000 career points after logging three assists in the Seals’ 7-6 win in Calgary.
Austin Staats is second in the NLL with 42 goals this season, just one goal behind the New York Riptide’s Jeff Teat, who has 43. Combined with 40 assists, Staats has 82 points on the season, tied with teammate Wes Berg for fifth in the League.
Berg’s 82 points include 50 assists, tops on the team and eight-most in the League, and his 32 goals put him in a tie with Colorado’s Eli McLaughlin for 11th in the NLL and are second-most among Seals behind Staats.
Trevor Baptiste, the renowned faceoff specialist, is third in the League in faceoff wins (249). His 70% faceoff win percentage is fourth-best in the League among those with at least 200 faceoffs and Baptiste’s 140 loose balls secured is 2nd in the NLL. Baptiste also has a couple of milestones within sight. He needs 30 more faceoff wins to become the 10th player in NLL history with 1,500 during their career and he needs eight loose ball recoveries to reach 900 for his career.
Goalkeeper Chris Origlieri has the National Lacrosse League’s second-lowest goals against average (9.60) among starting netminders. He’s also played more minutes (843:55) than any other goalie in the League this season. “Rigs” owns the NLL’s 2nd best save percentage among starters (80%) and he’s fourth in the League with 527 saves on the season.
Defenseman Kyle Rubisch leads the Seals and is tied for 8th in the NLL this season with 21 takeaways.
Dane Dobbie is eight assists shy of reaching 600 for his career.
Kyle Jackson needs two points to reach 300 for his career and eight loose ball recoveries to reach 400.
Patrick Shoemay is 11 loose ball recoveries away from 300 for his career.
Jesse Gamble needs four points to reach 100 for his career.
Head Coach Patrick Merrill: 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 50-30 (.625) 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: New for 2023-24, 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/ and follow the team on social media at @SealsLax on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.
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