Everything San Diego

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Seals use late run to hunt down Desert Dogs in first Stadium Showdown

Jonny Richardson - March 04, 2023

Seals use late run to hunt down Desert Dogs in first Stadium Showdown - Everything San Diego

Years in the making, the San Diego Seals finally hosted the National Lacrosse League’s first outdoor game. They were originally scheduled to do so with the Rumble on the Runway in February of 2020 on the MCAS Miramar flight runway but moved to Pechanga Arena due to an ongoing military mission on the base.

Finally, over three years later, the Seals did host the first-ever NLL outdoor game in the Stadium Showdown against the Las Vegas Desert Dogs. It was the most expensive broadcast in league history, televised live locally on FOX 5 San Diego, streaming on ESPN+ and will be broadcast on national television at 8 p.m. PT on ESPNU.

“Hopefully it encourages some young lacrosse players to pick up the stick,” head coach Patrick Merrill said.

The game saw eight lead changes in a back-and-forth battle between the Seals and Desert Dogs, but in the end, a late fourth-quarter run by the surging San Diego offense gave the Seals a three-goal victory.

“I felt like they carried us tonight, especially when we had some lapses defensively, took some penalties, which allowed them to keep it close, but then our offense helped us pull away at the end,” Merrill said.

After going down 2-0 early in the game, Mac O’Keefe, Curtis Dickson, Casey Jackson, and Dane Dobbie gave the Seals four consecutive goals to take the lead over the Desert Dogs. Jackson and Dobbie’s scores both came on a power play one minute apart.

Las Vegas’ Charlie Bertrand scored twice late in the opening quarter to tie the game before Connor Kirst gave the Desert Dogs the lead to open the second quarter.

Tre Leclaire and Dobbie tied the game at five and six goals apiece early in the second quarter before Leclaire and Dickson gave the Seals a two-goal lead.

In the second half, the Seals turned a 10-9 deficit to a 14-10 lead in the fourth quarter on a 5-0 run that saw goals from Dobbie, Jackson, and Wesley Berg.

The Desert Dogs attempted a comeback, led by former Seal Zack Greer, but the San Diego defense held strong at the end to keep the game out of reach of Las Vegas.

UP NEXT:

The Seals will prepare for a three-game road trip that starts Saturday, Mar. 11 in Saskatewan in a matchup between two top-three teams in the NLL’s West Division.