Gary Groob
All Lacrosse All The Time – A Division of Edge of Philly Sports Network
The Panther City Lacrosse Club (4-4) visited the Pechanga Arena in San Diego to face the Seals (6-1) Saturday night.
The new looked Panther City squad was coming off a very convincing 20-7 victory over the struggling Vancouver Warriors, while the Seals comfortably beat the defending champion Colorado Mammoth the previous week 13-9.
The goalie match-up had Nick Damude in net for Panther City against Chris Origlieri in net for San Diego.
The Seals jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first quarter, never looking back. Leading 9-4 at the half, San Diego seemed to have everything in hand. Panther City is a young, resilient group that doesn’t quit. A strong third quarter and a quick start in the fourth quarter, although they fell just short, were able to pull within one goal. Cam Holding’s goal with just 0:42 seconds left sealed the deal, giving San Diego the 12-10 victory.
Austin Staats (3g,2a), Dane Dobbie (3g,2a), and Wes Berg (3g,1a) led the way for the Seals. Mathieu Gautier (4g,0a), and Nathan Grenon (2g,0a) led the scoring, while Jonathan Donville (1g,6a), and Will Malcom (1g,5a) were involved all game in setting up the PCLC plays.
To The Game:
The Seals got rolling early when Mac O’Keefe scored unassisted at 2:08, followed by Austin Staats converting a Curtis Dickson feed 0:17 seconds later. Wes Berg then scored a beautiful goal off a Curtis Dickson feed and it was 3-0.
Mathieu Gautier got Panther City on the board converting a Connor Sellars pass at 6:53, but was answered back by Austin Staats, with his second of the game, finishing off a Curtis Dickson feed at 13:50.
After one quarter, San Diego 4 PCLC 1.
Second Quarter:
Dane Dobbie increased the Seals lead to 5-1 blasting a Jake Govett feed past Nick Damude just 0:53 seconds into the quarter, but Gautier with his second, and a power play goal from Patrick Dodds at 5:28 got Panther City back in the game.
San Diego answered back with three quick goals to pull ahead once more. Kevin Crowley converted a Dane Dobbie pass at 5:52, followed by Wes Berg with a pair of goals.
Jonathan Donville converted a Dean Fairall pass at 11:18, but was answered immediately by Dane Dobbie 0:39 seconds later to end the quarter.
At the half, San Diego 9 PCLC 4.
Third Quarter:
Panther City played a much more disciplined quarter, taking rhe play to the Seals.
Nathan Grenon scored at 4:56 converting a Dean Fairall pass, then pulled a little closer when Mathieu Gautier scored on the power play off a Will Malcom feed at 10:07.
Dane Dobbie scored off a Curtis Dickson feed on the power play, but was answered back by Mathieu Gautier’s first NLL hat-trick, also a power play marker, at 13:43.
After three quarters, San Diego 10 PCLC 7.
Fourth Quarter:
Nathan Grenon scored his second of the game just 0:48 seconds into the quarter, followed by Jake Fox converting a Patrick Dodds feed on the power play at 4:14. It was now a one goal game!
Austin Staats scored his third of the night on the power play to give San Diego a little breathing room, but Will Malcom converted a Jonathan Donville pass at 8:26, also on the power play.
This set up a nail-biter of a finish!
Back and forth play for almost six minutes kept the Pechanga Arena fans riveted to their seats. With less than a minutes left, Cam Holding shot from his own zone, that found it’s way into the empty Pather City net for the victory.
Final score, San Diego 12 PCLC 10.
Game Stats:
Shots on goal were 59-52 for San Diego.
Panther City won the faceoff battle 14-12.
The Loose ball battle was won by San Diego 79-58.
Panther City went 5 for 8 on the power play, while the Seals went 2 for 5.
Top Scorers:
Panther City Lacrosse Club:
Jonathan Donville 1g, 6a
Will Malcom 1g, 5a
Mathieu Gautier 4g, 0a
San Diego Seals:
Curtis Dickson 0g, 6a
Dan Dobbie 3g, 2a
Austin Staats 3g, 2a
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Gary Groob has been involved with Lacrosse for the majority of his life, whether playing, coaching, or covering the sport for the media.
An avid fan, with a real drive about helping to “grow the game”, Gary became part of podcasts about the game in 2010. Through the podcasts, Mr. Groob was given an opportunity to write about lacrosse, and the rest as they say, is history.
Through many miles (flying and driving) Gary has made inroads with the National Lacrosse League, Major Series Lacrosse League, the Ontario Lacrosse Association, as well as the Arena Lacrosse League, covering the leagues, their teams, and players, working for, and in concert with all of them.
In the year 2020, Mr. Groob was made the media person for the Arena Lacrosse League, voted onto the board of directors of the Brampton Excelsiors Lacrosse Club, as well as being made administrator of the Lacrosse page “Global Lacrosse” with a membership of 9000 members in over 90 Countries. Gary was also made an administrator of Lacrosse History Past Present and Future in 2022.
Mr. Groob co-hosts a weekly Lacrosse show on Spanglish Sports World, and ZingoTV channel 250, as well as writes a weekly lacrosse column for La Portada Canada News (both in print, and online).
Gary also hosts a Lacrosse talk show and podcast for The Edge of Philly Sports Network, seen live Sunday nights at 9pm (ET), and archived on the Edge of Philly YouTube page, as well as Spotify.
Mr. Groob’s other sports interests include Hockey, Football, Boxing, Wrestling, and Baseball, competing competitively in Boxing and Wrestling for many years.
