Behind hat trick performances from Wesley Berg and Austin Staats, the San Diego Seals earned a hard-fought road victory over the Saskatchewan Rush for their fourth consecutive win this season.
The Seals (4-1, 1st West) were short-handed after they placed defensemen Graydon Bradley, Brodie Merrill, Matt Sykes, transitions Brandon Clelland, Tyler Garrison and backup goaltender Chris Origlieri on COVID protocols. Forward Casey Jackson and goalie Frank Scigliano were already in COVID protocols from the previous week, while defender Drew Belgrave has been on the injured reserve list since Jan. 8.
The Rush (1-4, 5th West) have played close games all season long, but have not had much luck in the win column, losing twice by one goal before Friday night’s matchup in Saskatoon, Canada. Their most recent game in Week 5 saw their largest loss of the season, dropping to the Albany Firewolves, 10-5, on the road.
San Diego played almost immediately short-handed when they committed a penalty in the first minute, and in the 57th second of the game, the Rush’s Robert Church had a power play goal to get up 1-0. Austin Staats answered right back, scoring his first goal of the night to tie up the game. Wesley Berg scored another minute later and the Seals held a 2-1 in the first three minutes of the game. After that, defense prevailed and the two teams went scoreless in the remaining 12 minutes of the first quarter.
To open the second quarter, forward Mark Matthews scored Saskatchewan’s second goal of the night to tie the game. But that would be all the Rush would score in the first half. While on the penalty kill, Berg scored his second goal of the night that re-took the San Diego lead, and Mac O’Keefe would score the club’s second short-handed goal later on in the second quarter. The Seals held a 4-2 lead going into halftime.
Whatever defense both teams had in the first half was long gone by the time the two teams came back out for the second half, which featured 17 goals scored across the 30 minutes of play.
The Rush’s Ryan Keenan opened the scoring in the third quarter, but Berg re-gained the two-score lead less than a minute later. The two teams exchanged goals with the Rush taking the lead once at 7-6; however, the final three minutes saw the Seals on a 3-1 run to re-take the lead at 9-8 to enter the final frame. Wesley Berg, Dane Dobbie, Mac O’Keefe, Austin Staats and Jeremy Noble each scored in the third quarter for San Diego.
The Seals opened the fourth quarter scoring with a Dane Dobbie power play goal, the second power-play goal for the Seals in 26 seconds of play to gain a two-goal lead once again. But yet again, the Rush came back and within four minutes the game was tied once again. Jeremy Noble scored the Seals’ 11th goal of the night, and two minutes later, Austin Staats recorded hat tricks in back-to-back games to keep the Seals up for good.
San Diego’s 12-11 victory over the Rush showed the resiliency and depth of the lacrosse club with so many key contributors out, and how good the Seals could be when they get back to full strength.
For the second straight game, the Seals had a player making their NLL debuts protecting the net, and both players earned their first career wins as well. Goalie Justin Geddie became the second youngest player ever to get a win in their first career start, only behind Chris Origlieni, who made his NLL debut Jan. 8 in place of starter Frank Scigliano. Geddie made 42 saves while playing the entire 60 minutes.
In addition to his hat trick, Staats assisted three goals for a season-high six points. Jeremy Noble has earned six points in each of his last four games for the Seals, recording two goals and four assists in San Diego’s Friday night victory over the Rush.
With two weeks until their next matchup, the Seals expect for the majority of players currently in protocols to return for Saturday, Jan. 29, when they will play the Calgary Roughnecks in front of the home crowd at Pechanga Arena San Diego.