The San Diego Seals find themselves in uncharted territory, 0-2 at home to start the season for the first time since 2019, so the team is eager to return to the field to turn the tide and they’ll get that chance this Friday night (Jan. 9) when they host the Toronto Rock (1-2) at Pechanga Arena. Faceoff is 7:30 p.m. PT.
And if this Friday night’s game is anything like last season’s meeting between the teams, fans are in for a treat. Last year when the Seals and Rock met in Toronto, Wes Berg scored the 250th goal of his career with just 49 seconds remaining to give the Seals a 11-10 come-from-behind victory, their first in the head-to-head series.
Single-game tickets for Friday night’s clash against Toronto are on sale at https://sealslax.com/.
Tickets start at just $22.
The Seals come into Friday night’s game still smarting from a 15-11 loss to Calgary this past Saturday night at Pechanga Arena. They dug themselves an early hole and trailed 7-4 at the half before rallying to tie the game at 9-9 late in the third, only to see Calgary outscore them 6-2 down the stretch for the win. It was a physical contest that featured several fights and a combined 20 called penalties, including 12 against the Seals. Despite giving up 15 goals, the Seals were tenacious on defense in forcing 12 turnovers while coming away with 82 loose balls. Offensively, seven different players scored goals for the Seals, including Berg and Tre Leclaire, who paced the squad with three apiece, while for the second time in three games, Trevor Baptiste won a faceoff and drove to the net and scored an unassisted goal.
Across the aisle, Toronto comes in at 1-2 and off a 17-11 home loss to the Las Vegas Desert Dogs in their most recent outing back on Dec. 27. The Rock’s lone win this season was a 11-10 victory over Calgary at home on Dec. 13. They are looking to avoid an 0-2 start on the road.
Despite the slow start to the Seals’ 2025-26 campaign, Pechanga Arena (aka “The Electric Factory”) remains one of the toughest and loudest arenas to play in for opposing teams in the National Lacrosse League. The Seals have won nine of their last 14 regular-season games at Pechanga Arena and since the start of the 2022-23 season, San Diego is 21-8 in regular-season games played inside The Electric Factory.
**Broadcast Information **
For those unable to make it to Pechanga Arena in person on Friday night, the game will be broadcast locally on Spectrum Cable Channel 4 and streamed to a global audience on ESPN+.
**Regular-Season Milestones on the Horizon **
Wes Berg (286 career goals) needs 14 more to reach 300 for his career.
Berg (691 career points) needs 9 more to reach 700 for his career.
Trevor Baptiste has 1,696 career faceoff wins and needs just 4 more to reach 1,700.
Baptiste has 997 career loose balls secured and needs just 3 more to reach 1,000 for his career.
Eli Gobrecht has 88 career forced turnovers and needs just 12 more to reach 100.
Corey Small has scored 953 career points and needs 47 more to reach 1,000.
**Seals-Rock Head-to-Head **
All-time, the Seals are just 1-4 against Toronto and 0-2 at Pechanga Arena.
**A Look Back at Last Season’s Contest **
Wes Berg capped off a four-goal night with a game-winning goal with just 49 seconds left as the Seals ended a three-game losing streak with an 11-10 win over Toronto at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre in Mississauga, Ontario. For Berg, the game-winner was the 250th goal of his illustrious career and his game-leading fourth of the night. The Seals were in command for most of the game, holding leads of 2-1 after one period, 6-3 at halftime and 9-5 after three periods but the Rock caught fire in the fourth. They scored five unanswered goals in the first 7:59 before Seals goaltender Chris Origlieri settled down and didn’t give up a goal the rest of the night as part of a 39-save effort. Defensively, Zach Currier scooped up a game-high 13 loose balls, while Matt Wright and Eli Gobrecht each forced a pair of turnovers among 11 takeaways San Diego’s defense recorded on the night.
**A glance at the 2025-26 Seals Roster **
The Seals’ 2025-26 roster is a mix of new and old. While the team returns many of its top players from a year ago, they’ve also added a number of new faces.
Top returnees include forward and team captain Wes Berg, goaltender Chris Origlieri, faceoff specialist Trevor Baptiste, forwards Pat Kavanagh, Tre Leclaire and Ben McIntosh, transition men Zach Currier and Trent DiCicco, and defenders Eli Gobrecht, Danny Logan and Graydon Bradley.
Leclaire leads the team in goals (6) and points (16) and is tied with Berg and Kavanagh for the lead in assists (7). Baptiste has been particularly dominant in the faceoff circle, winning 74 of 90 (82%) just three games into the season.
Defensively, Currier leads the team in loose balls secured (42) and he’s tied with Wright and Logan for the lead in caused turnovers (4). Currier’s also tied for the team lead in blocked shots (3) with Gobrecht and Shoemay.
The team’s top newcomers include forwards Connor Robinson and Corey Small. Robinson, who came over in a trade from Colorado, was the third-leading scorer for the Mammoth a season ago, tallying 67 points on 23 goals and 44 assists, while Small, who signed with the Seals as a free agent, was the third-leading scorer for Toronto with 51 points on 25 goals and 26 assists. Robinson has three goals and five assists for the Seals this season, while Small has four goals and four assists.
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