The 3-2 San Diego Seals will look for their second consecutive win when they travel to Albany, New York to face the National Lacrosse League’s top team, the undefeated Albany FireWolves (6-0), this Saturday night at the MVP Arena in Albany. Faceoff is 4 p.m. PT.
Broadcast Information: Saturday night’s game will be streamed to a global audience on ESPN+.
Seals-FireWolves Head-to-Head: After going just 3-15 last season, the FireWolves are off to a roaring 6-0 start to the 2023-24 season with wins over Las Vegas (12-10), Buffalo (17-13), Philadelphia (15-10), Saskatchewan (11-10), Halifax (12-10) and Georgia (12-8). The former New England Black Wolves, the franchise relocated to Albany prior to the 2021-22 season and re-branded as the FireWolves. The Seals have faced the franchise twice all-time and are 0-2. During the 2018-19 season, the teams met in New England in a game won by the Black Wolves, 17-14, and they met again during the 2021-22 season in San Diego in a game won by the FireWolves, 13-12, at Pechanga Arena.
Players to Watch:
Team Captain Wes Berg and Austin Staats both lead the team and are tied for 12th in the NLL with 12 goals apiece.
Berg’s 18 assists pace the team and are tied for 11th league-wide, while Staats and Curtis Dickson are tied for second on the squad and 18th in the NLL with 15 assists apiece.
Trevor Baptiste, the renowned faceoff specialist ranks fourth in the League with 97 faceoff wins and he’s fifth with 54 loose balls secured. Both totals lead the team.
Goalkeeper Chris Origlieri ranks fifth in the NLL with 194 saves on the season and his 79% save percentage is tied for sixth in the League. Origlieri comes into the Albany contest off a stellar performance in the Seals’ last game at Colorado in which he made 43 saves and allowed a season-low eight goals.
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 43-28 (.606) 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. He owns a postseason record of 2-4.
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