Shawn Slaght, All Lacrosse All The Time – A Division of the Edge of Philly Sports Network
The San Diego Seals rolled to a 17-9 win in a pivotal game against Panther City on Friday night in Fort Worth.
San Diego switched it up once again in goal, going with Chris Origlieri over Frank Scigliano. Origlieri stopped 36 of 45 shots in the win. Meanwhile, it was an off night for Nick Damude, allowing 11 goals on 45 shots before being pulled for Cam McLeod.
The Seals’ big guns came to play. Austin Staats had eight points (and a fight), while Wes Berg finished with 10 points. Dane Dobbie and Curtis Dickson had eight and seven points respectively.
The win leaves San Deigo to clinch a playoff spot with a win on Saturday night against Buffalo as they hold a 10-2 record. Panther City remains in the West playoff hunt at 8-6.
San Diego takes big first-quarter lead
San Diego jumped out to a quick 2-0 to start the game. Dane Dobbie scored 1:48 followed by rookie Jake Govett finding the back of the net less than two minutes later for his first NLL goal.
Rookie sensation Jonathan Donville got Panther City on the board with 9:20 on the clock. However, Panther City’s offense would go silent after that.
San Diego wrapped up the first quarter with a three-goal run including a pair of goals from Staats and one from Dickson.
With six seconds left on the clock, tempers boiled over. Staats and Liam Patten dropped the gloves and threw haymakers.
Eight second-quarter goals for the Seals
Panther City’s offense came to life in the second quarter, but San Diego was relentless with eight goals on their own.
Phil Caputo capitalized on the power play 56 seconds into the frame to narrow the Seals’ lead 5-2.
Not letting off the gas, the Seals replied right back with goals from Berg and Danny Logan to make it 7-2.
Tony Malcom scored with 10:44 on the clock to get Panther City back on the board. That momentum faded with a goal from Dickson just over a minute later.
Panther City’s power play continued to shine. Caputo scored his second power-play goal of the quarter off a Dickson penalty to make it 9-5 for the Seals.
More penalty trouble for the Seals would lead to Callum Crawford finding the back of the net with 4:45 left on the clock.
In a span of 3:58, the Seals went on a four-goal run with four different goal scorers to make it 13-5. Scoring were Staats, Berg, Mac O’Keefe and Dickson.
Low-scoring third quarter
The defenses took over in the third quarter as only three goals were scored.
Will Malcom opened the scoring 1:21 into the frame followed by Staats replying on the power play to make it 14-6.
Patrick Dodds scored with just under six minutes left to cut San Diego’s lead in half, but the Seals still lead by seven heading into the final quarter.
San Diego “seals” the deal on pivotal game
It was a wild beginning to the fourth quarter. A caused turnover in the defensive end sprung Josh Medeiros on a breakaway all alone and he made no mistake to make the score 14-8.
Panther City followed that up with a transition goal from Brooker Muir for his first NLL goal.
That’s as close as Panther City would get as San Diego would finish on a three-goal run. Scoring was Govett with a pair and a goal from Dickson to pick up win a pivotal game 17-9.
Top Scorers
San Diego Seals
Wes Berg, 3g 7a
Austin Staats, 4g 4a
Dane Dobbie, 1g 7a
Panther City
Jonathan Donville, 1g 4a
Phil Caputo, 2g 1a
Will Malcom, 1g 2a
Callum Crawford, 1g 2a
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Shawn Slaght has been a sports reporter across the Canadian prairies for over 10 years and has experience covering everything from junior hockey to World Cup skiing to all levels of lacrosse. He is the Saskatchewan correspondent for All Lacrosse All The Time.
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