While the Seals ultimately came up one goal short in their quest to extend their season in the NLL Playoffs, there was a lot to be proud of as the team looks back on its 2024-25 season and looks ahead to 2025-26 with championship aspirations on its mind.
“I’m really proud of our guys and how they faced and dealt with adversity all season long, yet they continued to fight and give it all they had until the clock literally read 0:00 in Buffalo,” said Seals Head Coach Patrick Merrill.
“With everything that we went through this year, all the highs and lows, no one ever said a word or complained, the guys just put their helmets on and went to work night-in and night-out and I’m really proud of the way they handled themselves all season long.”
Seals fans flocked to Pechanga Arena this season with more than 47,000 passing through the turnstiles and they made a huge impact. The Electric Factory, as it’s affectionately known, has become one of the toughest arenas in the NLL for road teams. This season, the Seals went 6-3 at Pechanga Arena and since the start of the 2022-23 season, the team is 21-6 in regular-season games played inside The Electric Factory. And looking to continue that excitement, the team is currently accepting deposits on season tickets for the 2025-26 season at https://sealslax.com/.
“I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a shoutout to our fans,” said Merrill. “Pechanga Arena was as loud as I’ve ever heard it for our last game of the regular season against Albany and I’ve said it before and I’ll continue to say it that hands-down, we have the best fans in the NLL.”
Inside the glass, it was no surprise that the Seals leaned on their team captain Wes Berg all season long and it was none other than Berg who scored the game-winning goal that allowed the Seals to extend their 2024-25 campaign into the postseason. And in the playoffs, it was Berg’s goal 2:49 into the second quarter that gave the Seals their first lead of the night in Buffalo. It came on the heels of a regular season in which he put 49 balls into the net, tied for second-most in the League. Berg also finished the regular season with a flurry, netting 20 goals in the Seals’ last six games.
“We came into the season with one goal and that was to bring a championship to San Diego so anything short of that is a disappointment, but I thought that as a team, we showed a lot of grit and determination right to the very end and I’m proud of the way that we fought,” said Berg.
And Berg echoed Merrill’s feelings about the home fans.
“Our fans are great. From the opener against Philadelphia back in December all the way until the Albany game on the 18th, our fans were there with us every step of the way and having them behind us makes it so much fun to go out and play in front of them down at Pechanga. They’re as loud as can be and we definitely have the best fans in the League.”
Rob Hellyer was one of the Seals’ new additions this offseason, coming over from Las Vegas via free agency. Hellyer made an immediate impact in his first season donning the purple and gold, leading the team with 93 points on 29 goals and a team-high 64 assists. Hellyer and Berg gave the Seals a formidable one-two punch and their chemistry in between the lines continued to gel as the team got deeper into its season.
“It was a lot of fun this year to play alongside Wes and you could really see how well we worked together as the season went along, “explained Hellyer. “And as a whole, we’ve a great group of guys here with this team and even though we came up just short this year, looking back I’m excited about what we accomplished as a group. And honestly, I’m even more excited looking ahead with all the guys we have coming back. I have no doubt that we’ll be a force to be reckoned with come next season. It can’t get here fast enough.”
Another of the newcomers who made a big impact on the squad was transition man Zach Currier, who joined the Seals as part of a blockbuster trade with Calgary ahead of the 2024-25 season. Currier, who became a first-time father during the season, finished it ranked third the NLL in both loose balls secured (193) and caused turnovers (32). The two-time NLL Transition Player of the Year and two-time All-NLL first-team and second-team selection talked about how much he enjoyed his first season in San Diego.
“We’ve got a great group of guys here and you can just feel how close we were to winning the whole thing,” said Currier, who won a NLL title with the Roughnecks in 2019. “We had I think 16 games this season, including the playoff game, that were decided by three goals or less so any one of those games goes a different direction and we’re writing a completely different story, but these guys are as talented as any that I’ve played with and I’m excited to get back into battle with them again next season.”
And speaking of the future, it is extremely bright for the Seals as the team has loaded up on young talent. Goaltender Chris Origlieri, who played perhaps his finest game of the season in the team’s playoff loss at Buffalo, allowing a season-low five goals, is just 22 years old, while future stars Trent DiCicco and Pat Kavanagh are just 23 and 24, respectively.
“Obviously I’m disappointed that we didn’t get a chance to play deeper into the playoffs, but I love the guys that I have playing in front of me and I think I can take a lot from last Friday night’s game and carry the positives from it into next season,” said Origlieri.
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