Pechanga Arena, aka The Electric Factory, was back rocking last Friday night when the Seals (4-3) delivered a statement win against Philadelphia for their third win in a row and now they’ll look to keep the momentum going when they host the League’s top-ranked team, the 7-1 Saskatchewan Rush this Saturday night (Feb. 7) at 7 p.m.
The Seals have bounced back nicely after starting the season 1-3 and 0-3 at home, stringing together consecutive wins over Vancouver and Philadelphia twice. After giving up at least 12 goals in each of their first four games while being outscored 55-41, the Seals flipped the script and outscored Vancouver and Philadelphia 33-23 while not giving up more than nine goals. One of the biggest reasons for the team’s recent success has been the play of goaltender Chris Origlieri, who’s stopped 82.7% (110 of 133) of the shots he’s faced the last three games.
The Seals also have two of the League’s top two transition players in faceoff specialist Trevor Baptiste and Zach Currier. Baptiste leads the NLL in faceoff wins (146) and faceoff win percentage (81%) and it’s not even close as Halifax’s Jake Withers is a distant second with 130 faceoff wins at a 74% clip. Meanwhile, Currier’s third in the League with 83 loose balls while leading the Seals in caused turnovers (11) and tying for the team lead in blocked shots (4).
Fourteen different players have scored goals for the Seals this season, led by forwards Tre Leclaire (17), Connor Robinson (9) and Dylan Watson (7), while fellow forward and Team Captain Wes Berg paces the Seals with 19 assists on the year.
The Seals will have to be at their best on Saturday night to beat the Rush who come in having won six straight and at 7-1, they’re a game ahead of Colorado (6-2) in the NLL standings.
The Electric Factory
More than 7,000 fans jammed into Pechanga Arena for last Friday night’s Heroes Night win over Philadelphia and the fans showed why 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 10 of their last 16 regular-season games at Pechanga Arena and since the start of the 2022-23 season, San Diego is 22-9 in regular-season games played inside The Electric Factory.
Broadcast Information
For Seals fans unable to make it to Pechanga Arena on Saturday night, the game will be broadcast locally in San Diego on Spectrum Cable Channel 4 and streamed to a global audience on ESPN+.
Regular-Season Milestones on the Horizon
Wes Berg (289 career goals) needs 11 more to reach 300 for his career.
Berg (687 career loose ball recoveries) needs just 13 more to reach 700 for his career.
Trevor Baptiste has 1,768 career faceoff wins, seventh-most in NLL history. With just 7 more he’ll pass Peter Jacobs (1,774) for sixth all-time in NLL annals.
Baptiste has played in 97 career games and needs to play in three more to reach 100 career games played.
Eli Gobrecht has 90 career forced turnovers and needs just 10 more to reach 100.
Corey Small has scored 955 career points on 421 career goals and 534 career assists. He needs 45 more points to reach 1,000. He ranks 19th all-time in NLL annals in points scored
Zach Currier has 194 career points on 69 goals and 125 assists. He needs just 6 more points to reach 200 for his career.
Ben McIntosh has scored 340 career goals and needs just 10 more to reach 350 for his career.
Connor Robinson has 293 career points on 132 goals and 161 assists. He needs just 7 more points to reach 300 for his career.
Seals-Rush Head-to-Head
All-time, the Seals and Rush have met 12 times and Saskatchewan leads the series, 7-5, including a 12-8 win over the Seals last season at Pechanga Arena. The Rush have also won four of the seven meetings, including the last two, between the teams at Pechanga Arena.
A Look Back at Last Season’s Contest
A 7-0 halftime deficit was too much to overcome as the Seals fell to the Rush, 12-8, at Pechanga Arena. The Seals fought back valiantly to make it a game in the third period, outscoring the Rush 5-2 to climb back within 9-5. Then rookie Trent DiCicco was a bright spot for the Seals as he set up three straight goals in the quarter, including two to Ben McIntosh. They, along with Zach Currier, all finished the night with two goals apiece to lead the team.
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