In the second quarter of a Seals’ 14-8 victory, defenseman and team captain Brodie Merrill scored his second goal of the season on a one-timer type of shot. It may not be considered a one-timer, but it’s the closest you will ever get in lacrosse.

With 14:52 remaining in the second quarter, Kevin Crowley took the ball from the Calgary Roughnecks’ corner. Merrill, seeing the Calgary defense with their backs turned and a wide open area in front of the net, ran uncovered and with a perfect pass from Crowley, and got a one-on-one opportunity on Roughnecks goaltender Christian Del Bianco.

Merrill, finding a hole on the right side of the goal, shot right into the net.

“I think, sometimes, when you’re a defensive player on the offensive side it’s easier to get lost so Kevin [Crowley] did a good job picking up on it and kinda got lucky there just finding some open space there,” Merrill said.

His teammates celebrated with him, more than the average goal celebration.

“I don’t score too many of those anymore so it definitely feels good and give a little bit of a spark to the group,” Merrill added.

You can hear my entire postgame interview with the captain here:

I asked Brodie Merrill about his goal, team’s performance tonight. Here’s what he had to say: pic.twitter.com/tMPSKXKsiM

— Jonny Richardson (@itsjonnysd) April 1, 2023

The goal set the table for the Seals’ three-goal second quarter that would turn a three-goal lead at the start of the quarter to a five-goal lead by the end of it.

Merrill’s first goal of the season, an unassisted goal in a 14-10 road loss on Jan. 14, also came against the Roughnecks.

He added his 11th assist of the season on fellow defenseman Eli Gobrecht’s third-quarter score for his fourth multi-point effort in 14 games played this season.

“It was good. It was a nice goal from him and anytime he scores, as our captain, one of the older guys, the other guys get a kick out of it. It was a good lift for the team but it was actually a big goal at a good time to get the guys going and we fed off of it,” head coach Patrick Merrill said.