SAN DIEGO SEALS SET SIGHTS ON PLAYOFFS

By Karen Pearlman

 

SAN DIEGO -- The National Lacrosse League 2024-25 regular season is coming to a close and the San Diego Seals (8-8) are hitting the home stretch soon.

 

The Seals are concluding their regular season with a two-game home-and-home series against the Albany FireWolves (6-10).

 

The first game is set for Saturday, April 12 at Albany’s MVP Arena (capacity: 17,500) with faceoff set for 4 p.m. It also marks the end of an arduous four-game stretch of road games for the Seals, who’ve traveled to Calgary, Rochester, N.Y., and Halifax, Nova Scotia for their last three games.

 

The Seals are currently fighting to qualify for the NLL playoffs.

 

Buffalo, Saskatchewan, Halifax and Rochester have all clinched playoff spots while eight teams are fighting for the final four spots.

 

That includes the Seals, Vancouver (9-7), Georgia (8-8), Colorado (8-8) and Calgary (8-8), Ottawa (7-9), Albany and Philadelphia (6-10).

 

The Seals will have their hands full with the FireWolves. Albany was the team that eliminated the Seals from last season’s NLL playoffs.

 

The Seals have lost their last two games but prior to that had won five of six.

 

Albany comes in after a loss, scoring a season-low four goals falling to Vancouver 10-4 last Friday night. Before that, Alpany had won three straight, beating Philadelphia, Georgia and 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 because of an 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 a marked improvement over the five games prior in which they averaged just 8.2 GPG while going 1-4 during the stretch.

 

Over the 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 their 188 goals allowed are eighth-most in the NLL.

 

The Seals are doing well 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. 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).

 

You can follow the Seals on social media @SealsLax on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook, or at https://www.sealslax.com/

 

Tickets to Seals home games at Pechanga Arena start at just $15 and are available at https://sealslax.com/