It’s off to Georgia for the Seals (6-9), who will look to right the ship this Sunday afternoon (April 12) against the Swarm (10-5) amidst an agonizingly frustrating stretch in which they’ve dropped their last five games by a total of just eight goals, demonstrating just how the fine line is between winning and losing in the National Lacrosse League. No matter what, it will be a matinee affair at the Gas South Arena in Duluth, GA where they’ll drop the ball at 4 p.m. ET (1 p.m. PT).
The Seals’ and Swarm’s seasons started alike but have gone in opposite directions since. The Seals started the year 2-3 before winning four of five to get to 6-4, only to get stymied by the current stretch as their record fell to 6-9. The Swarm also started the year 2-3, but they won six straight to improve to 8-3 before splitting their last four to come into Sunday afternoon’s game at 10-5.
A similar paradox has applied to the Seals’ offensive and defensive fortunes on the field this season. Defensively, they’ve been exceptional, allowing just 154 goals on the year, tied with Saskatchewan for third-fewest in the NLL. Goaltender Chris Origlieri is allowing just 9.79 goals per game, fourth-lowest in the League among netminders who’ve played 750-or-more minutes this season. Origlieri’s stopped 79% of the shots he’s faced this season and eight times this season he’s allowed nine-or-fewer goals, all eight in the Seals’ last 11 games.
Unfortunately, the Seals find themselves on the opposite end of the spectrum offensively where their 146 goals scored rank 13th in the 14-team NLL. Still, the Seals have been a balanced goal-scoring team this year with 18 different players finding the back of the net with forwards Tre Leclaire (27), Wes Berg (22) Dylan Watson (19), Connor Robinson (19) and Ben McIntosh (18) leading the way. The Seals also have been efficient with the ball as they have the third-lowest giveaway total in the NLL this season (306), bested only by Las Vegas’ 299 and Rochester’s 287.
In between, the Seals have two of the League’s top transition players in faceoff specialist Trevor Baptiste and Zach Currier. Baptiste, regarded by many as the top faceoff man in all of professional lacrosse, leads the League in faceoff win percentage (75%) while ranking third in faceoff wins (270) despite taking 25 less attempts than Jake Withers of Halifax, who leads the NLL with 278 faceoff wins, and 49 fewer than Calgary’s Justin Inacio, who’s second with 273.
Currier meanwhile ranks second in the NLL in loose balls secured (169) and he’s had 10-or-more in seven of the Seals’ last 10 games. Currier’s also forced a team-leading 21 turnovers, one ahead of Danny Logan, who’s second with 20, and he’s tied with Eli Gobrecht and Graydon Bradley for second on the team in blocked shots (10), behind James Barclay’s team-leading 16. As a team, the Seals have the fifth-most most forced turnovers in the League this season (136).
Seals-Swarm Head-to-Head
This is the fifth all-time meeting between the Seals and Swarm and Georgia holds a 3-1 series lead. Georgia defeated the Seals on their home floor, 17-10, in the first meeting during the 2018-19 season. The Seals won the second, 12-11 in overtime at Pechanga Arena, during the 2023-24 season, and last season, the Swarm beat the Seals twice, 13-12 in overtime at Gas South and 11-8 two weeks later at Pechanga Arena.
Broadcast Information:
The game will be broadcast to a national cable TV audience on ESPNU and streamed to a global audience on ESPN+.
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