The San Diego Seals (8-8) are hitting the home stretch of the 2024-25 National Lacrosse League regular-season and they’ll conclude it with a two-game home-and-home series against the Albany FireWolves (6-10). The first game is set for this Saturday (April 12) at Albany’s MVP Arena (17,500) with faceoff set for 4 p.m. PT. It also marks the end of an arduous four-game stretch of road games for the Seals, who’ve traveled to Calgary, Rochester (New York) and Halifax (Nova Scotia) for their last three games.
At 8-8, the Seals are currently in a dogfight to qualify for the NLL Playoffs. Four teams have clinched playoff spots (Buffalo, Saskatchewan, Halifax and Rochester) while eight teams are fighting for the final four spots. They include Vancouver (9-7), Georgia, the Seals, Colorado and Calgary (all 8-8), Ottawa (7-9) and Albany and Philadelphia (both 6-10). If the season were to end today, the Seals would make the playoffs as the No. 7 seed by virtue of holding tiebreaker advantages over Colorado and Calgary.
The Seals will have their hands full with the FireWolves as it was Albany that eliminated the Seals from last season’s NLL Playoffs. The Seals have lost their last two, but prior to, won five of six. Albany, meanwhile, comes in as well off a loss, scoring a season-low four goals in a 10-4 loss to Vancouver last Friday night, but prior to that they had won three straight with victories over Philadelphia, Georgia and the reigning NLL Champion Buffalo Bandits. The FireWolves are 4-4 this season at MVP Arena.
Saturday night’s game will be broadcast in San Diego on KUSI-TV and streamed to a global audience on ESPN+. It will also mark the 100th game behind the bench for Seals Head Coach Patrick Merrill. Last weekend, the Seals played their 100th all-time game as a franchise but Merrill missed the final game of the 2021-22 season due to illness so this weekend will mark his 100th behind the Seals’ bench.
Though they were held to 10 goals in last Saturday’s loss at Halifax, the Seals are averaging a healthy 13.6 goals per game in their last eight contests in which they’ve gone 5-3. It’s been a marked improvement over the five games prior in which they averaged just 8.2 GPG while going 1-4 during the stretch. And for the full course of the season, San Diego’s 194 goals scored are fifth-most in the NLL, while their 187 goals allowed are sixth-fewest in the League. On the flip side, Albany’s 170 goals scored are tied for 11th in the League while they’re 188 goals allowed are eighth-most in the NLL.
The Seals are doing it behind the hot shooting of forward and team captain Wes Berg, whose 44 goals are third in the NLL this season. He also has 36 assists for 80 total points on the season and Berg’s been hot of late, scoring 15 goals in the Seals’ last four games. Berg has a tremendous supporting cast that includes fellow forwards Rob Hellyer (28 goals and 59 assists for a team-leading 87 points), Ryan Benesch (23G and 37A for 60 points, third on the team) and Ben McIntosh (22G and 38A for 60 points, tied with Benesch for third on the team), alongside transition man Zach Currier, whose 171 loose balls secured are third-most in the League.
In order to come out on top, the Seals will look to contain Albany’s high-scoring forwards Alex Simmons (33 goals and 51 assists), Tye Kurtz (28G, 45A), Ethan Walker (24G, 41A) and Dyson Williams (23G, 32A).
Seals-FireWolves Head-to-Head: Originally the 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 five times and are just 1-4 all-time, including 0-2 in the playoffs. The Seals’ lone victory was a 14-7 win over the FireWolves on Jan. 20, 2024 at the MVP Arena.
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