The defending regular-season National Lacrosse League West Conference Champion San Diego Seals will open the 2023-24 NLL season at home against the Calgary Roughnecks, runners up to the Seals in the West in 2022-23, this Saturday, Dec. 9, at Pechanga Arena. The ball will drop at 7 p.m.
Seals-Roughnecks Head-to-Head: San Diego won the West last season with a 14-4 mark while the Roughnecks finished a game behind at 13-5. The teams met three times during the 2022-23 season with the Seals winning two of the three, including a 17-14 win at Calgary on Dec. 30 and a 14-8 win at Pechanga Arena on March 31, while the Roughnecks posted a 14-10 victory on their home field on Jan. 14. After finishing second to the Seals during the regular season, Calgary advanced to the NLL’s West Conference Finals where they fell to Colorado Mammoth two games to one.
What’s New: New for 2023-24, the NLL has done away with separating teams by conference and moving forward will feature single-table unified standings in which teams are ranked top-to-bottom regardless of geography. Starting this season, each team will play every other team in the League once and then teams will play four additional “flex” games that preserve established rivalries and fan interest, showcase games with impactful storylines and highlight star player matchups. At the end of the regular season, the best eight teams will have an opportunity to win the NLL Cup. And the playoffs will feature the No. 1 seed vs. No 8; No. 2 vs. No. 7; No. 3 vs. No. 6, and No. 4 vs. No. 5 in the quarterfinals, with a bracket-style advance through to the NLL Finals. The quarterfinal round will be single elimination, while the semi-finals and finals will continue to be best-of-three series.
Players to Watch:
Trevor Baptiste: Acquired in an offseason three-team trade from the Philadelphia Wings…one of the NLL’s top faceoff men and transition players…finished second in the NLL in 2022-23 with 306 faceoff wins and third with 218 loose balls secured.
Dane Dobbie: Led the Seals and ranked sixth in the NLL with 46 goals in 2022-23…led League in power play goals (13)…tied for 17th in the League and first on the team 56 assists…only the 7thplayer in League history with more than 500 career goals.
Curtis Dickson: Tied for seventh in the League and second on the squad with 45 goals in 2022-23…tied for 17th in the League and second on the team with 61 assists…led League in short-handed goals (9) and points (9).
Wes Berg: Named a team captain for the 2023-24 season…ranked sixth in the NLL and led the team in 2022-23 with 72 assists…third on the team and tied for 16th in the League with 41 goals scored.
Austin Staats: Led the NLL with five game-winning goals…fourth on the team and tied for 19th in the League in 2022-23 with 40 goals.
Chirs Origlieri: The 20-year-old netminder is slated to take over in goal for the Seals this season after last season’s starter, Frank Scigliano, was traded to the Saskatchewan Rush during the offseason.
Danny Logan: As a rookie last season, led the team and tied for 16th in the NLL with 25 takeaways.
Head Coach Patrick Merrill: Patrick Merrill is looking to guide the Seals to a fourth-consecutive playoff appearance in 2023-24. With a regular-season won-loss ledger of 40-26 (.606) since joining the Seals in 2018, Merrill’s guided the team to the playoffs in each of the three full seasons he’s been at the helm, including a berth in the 2022 West Conference Finals.
Follow the Seals on Social Media: For the latest info on the Seals, or for ticket info, visit https://www.sealslax.com/and follow the team on social media at @SealsLax on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.
Broadcast Information: Saturday’s game will be broadcast live in San Diego on KUSI-TV (9/51) and streamed to a global audience on ESPN+.
