The San Diego Seals (3-5) will cross the Canadian border in search of their fourth win of the season when they face the Toronto Rock on Saturday night (Feb. 8) at the FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton, Ontario. Faceoff is 4 p.m. PT.
It’s a pivotal game for the Seals, who’ve lost three-straight for the first time since the 2021-22 season. At 3-5, the Seals find themselves tied with the Rock for 11th place in the NLL as the 2024-25 season approaches its midpoint. Ironically though, just a season ago, the Rock posted the NLL’s best regular-season record at 15-3, while the Seals posted the League’s second-best mark at 13-5.
And while the Seals come in having lost three straight, the Rock come in having won their last three after opening the season 0-5. Those three wins coming against Saskatchewan (11-8), Calgary (14-9) and Colorado (9-8, OT). To contain the Rock and get back in the win column, the Seals will need to slow the Rock’s top two scorers, forwards Josh Dawick and Chris Boushy. Dawick leads Toronto with 18 goals and 13 assists, while Boushy is second with 17 goals and 10 assists. Defenseman Mitch De Snoo also presents a challenge as he ranks fifth in the NLL with 77 loose balls secured and third with 15 blocked shots.
Broadcast Information: Saturday night’s game will be televised locally in San Diego on KUSI-TV and streamed to a global audience on ESPN+.
Seals-Rock Head-to-Head: Saturday night will be an opportune time for the Seals to secure their first-ever win against Toronto. All-time, the Seals are 0-4 against the Rock, including a 15-13 loss last season at Pechanga Arena.
A Look Back at Last Season’s Meeting: Toronto scored three goals in the final 1:59 to defeat the Seals, 15-13, at Pechanga Arena. It was San Diego’s first loss of the season at Pechanga Arena. During a chippy first quarter, the Seals exploded for six goals. They fell behind 3-1 early before outscoring Toronto 5-2 to close out the period and take a 6-5 lead. The six-goal outburst included a pair by Wes Berg and another from Tre Leclaire. The second quarter had more offensive fireworks as the teams combined for eight goals, four by each side. It was a completely different story in the third quarter as the teams went scoreless for the first 9:28 until Marley Angus scored for Toronto to tie the game, 10-10. A late Seals goal put them up 11-10 after three quarters. Both teams’ offenses warmed back up in the fourth. Toronto scored two quick goals to go up 12-11, but the Seals answered with a pair of scores to reclaim the lead, 13-12. The score remained as such for the next 7:50 until Toronto tied the game with a goal at the 1:59 mark and took the lead 53 seconds later. The Rock added an empty-netter for the final goal of the night as they closed out the win.
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