The resurgent San Diego Seals, 6-6 and winners of three of their last four, will return to the turf at Pechanga Arena for an afternoon matinee this Sunday (March 16) against their rivals from Sin City, the Las Vegas Desert Dogs (3-10). It’ll be Native American Heritage Day at Pechanga Arena with faceoff set for 1:30 p.m. PT.
As part of Native American Heritage Day, the team will host a pregame tailgate party starting at 11:30 a.m. featuring food, music and kid-friendly games, and the first 2,000 fans to come through the turnstiles will receive a commemorative Seals-Native American Heritage Hat.
Tickets start at just $15 and are available at https://sealslax.com/.
The Seals come into Sunday afternoon’s game with momentum after a big 13-11 win over Vancouver last Friday night at Pechanga Arena. Team Captain Wes Berg’s go-ahead and team-leading fourth goal of the night with just 1:20 left in the fourth quarter ended a 17:23 scoreless drought for the Seals and propelled the team to the win. Forward Rob Hellyer recorded a season-high seven assists while netminder Chris Origlieri held the Warriors scoreless over the final 9:52 as part of a 45-save night. That final stretch followed an earlier one of 24:33 from the middle of the second quarter until early fourth in which “Rigsy” also kept the Warriors out of the Seals’ net.
At 3-10, the Desert Dogs come into Sunday’s contest last in the NLL standings but it’s an important game for the Seals as one of those three wins came at San Diego’s expense, a 12-10 win over the Seals on Jan. 18 at the Lee’s Family Forum. At 6-6, the Seals currently sit in eighth place in the National Lacrosse League standings with just six games remaining and only the top eight teams qualify for the NLL playoffs. Since Las Vegas’ Jan. 18 win over the Seals, the Desert Dogs are just 1-5 and have lost two straight, including a 21-13 home loss to Rochester last Friday night.
While the Desert Dogs have struggled in the win-loss column, several of their players have put together strong seasons on offense. Forward Jack Hannah leads the team with 28 goals and 65 points (37 assists) while Jonathan Donville leads the team with 42 assists and ranks second on the squad with 57 points (15 goals). Fellow forward Casey Jackson’s 21 goals are second-most on the team and he’s third with 42 total points (21 assists). Transition man Connor Kirst leads Las Vegas with 87 loose balls secured and 19 caused turnovers, while fellow transition players Brandon Goodwin and Jonathan Gagliardi are tied for the team lead with 10 blocked shots apiece.
Seals-Desert Dogs Head-to-Head: The Seals hold a 4-2 all-time series edge over the Desert Dogs and are 2-0 in games played at Pechanga Arena.
Broadcast Information: For those unable to make it to Pechanga Arena on Sunday afternoon, the Seals-Desert Dogs game will be broadcast on national cable television on ESPNU.
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