WESTERN DIVISION SEMIFINAL PREVIEW

It’s time for the Western Division Semifinal, and your San Diego Seals are hosting the Calgary Roughnecks for Monday Night Lacrosse at Pechanga Arena San Diego at 7:30 PM PT.

“We’re excited,” said general manager and head coach Patrick Merrill. “We have that nervous energy, the anxiousness. We’re preparing for what’s to come. You’ll see an aggressive team on the floor. We need to be the hungriest team out there if we’re gonna be the last one standing. It’s what we do in the 60 minutes on the floor that matters.”

The Seals and Roughnecks met three times in the regular season, with San Diego taking two out of the three matchups. The Seals defense held the Roughnecks to nine goals in each game, while outscoring the offense 36-27.

“In the playoffs, talent equals out,” continued Merrill. “It’s not about strategy at this point, it’s about the will and desire, and who wants it more. We built this team to win. We were aggressive in the offseason to get the guys we wanted. We have veteran leadership and experience that know what it takes to win, and we’ve got a young, exciting, athletic core. It’s a good balance.”

San Diego’s active roster includes 11 players with playoff experience, with seven Seals winning the NLL championship. Forward Dan Dawson’s 147 playoff points are good for second in league history, while defenseman Brodie Merrill sits in fifth place on the loose ball leaderboard with 175.

“We’ve got a different mindset,” said defenseman Kyle Hartzell. “It’s that ‘do or die’ mentality. You need to outwork the other team. Fight for ground balls, special teams battles, the hustle plays. You have to do the little things right.”

You can see the San Diego Seals in action on Monday at 7:30 PM PT at Pechanga Arena San Diego. The Seals will take on the Calgary Roughnecks in the Western Division Semifinal. The winner of the game will host the Colorado Mammoth for the Western Division Final. Reserve your seats now at SealsLax.com.

For fans unable to attend the game, B/R Live – Turner’s live sports streaming service – will stream all San Diego Seals games throughout the 2018-19 season. B/R Live is available by downloading the B/R Live app through iTunes or Google Play; through Apple TV, the Roku platform and Amazon Fire TV.