Las Vegas has been off to some touch-and-go starts in the infant years of their franchise. However, Saturday night was a momentous occasion at Lee’s Family Forum, AKA The Den, as it was the first sellout in franchise history. The hometown Desert Dogs were set to do battle with the visiting San Diego Seals. This game was tightly contested and was deadlocked deep into the third quarter, resulting in Las Vegas coming out with the 12-10 victory.
A win on the night of your franchise’s first sellout crowd, how fitting. Let’s do it Sin City.
The first quarter was, well, something. There was one goal scored, and it was by San Diego, specifically, Trent Dicicco. The score doesn’t do the pace of the game justice, or the play by both defenses. Justin Geddie got the nod in net for Las Vegas and was outstanding, along with Christopher Origlieri for the Seals. 1-0 San Diego after one.
If you’re like me, and you’re a fan of the scoring, there was definitely an uptick in the second quarter. Let’s be real, we can only go up from one, right? The defensive stalemate continued on for the first seven-ish minutes of the second, but then Las Vegas really turned it up. Three-straight for the Dogs catapulted them into the lead. Scorers of those were Jackson Webster, Jonathan Donville, and Nick Preston. Former Desert Dog, Dylan Watson stopped the bleeding for his new team, but Jack Hannah responded with his first. Kyle Jackson and James Barclay each traded goals to close out the second. 5-3 Las Vegas at the break.
“It was awesome,” said Preston about his first career NLL goal. “I’m an older rookie in the league, so I didn’t know if I was even going to get this opportunity. I think we’re just playing for each other out there. We have each other’s backs, like we’re kids, just having fun playing lacrosse.”
Geddie had a monster first half in net for the Desert Dogs, squandering any real chances for the opposition. He made 23 saves on 26 shots. On the other end, Origlieri definitely had his sparkling moments, stopping 16 of 21.
Did you say you liked scoring too? If you did, good, because the third quarter had ten total goals scored, and the back-and-forth continued. Brandon Goodwin continued the Las Vegas momentum with his first to open the frame. San Diego answered right back with two of their own, one from Ty Thompson and the other from Ryan Benesch on the power play. Everyone loves a good slugfest, right? Kyle Killen buried his first but was quickly answered by another power play marker from Benesch. That goal from Benesch was at the 6:31 mark of the third quarter. The significance of that, is he was the first player in the game to register his second goal of the contest. It seemed interesting because you usually see guys score more than once in a shorter span than that. Back to the action. The rest of the third saw two more goals from either side. For Las Vegas it was Marshal King and Hannah. For San Diego it was Jackson and Rob Hellyer. All of that to say, 9-8 Dogs after three.
San Diego was completely shut down in the fourth quarter, only tallying two goals in the frame. Those were scored by Hellyer and Benesch. Las Vegas was stout defensively and tacked on three more goals, courtesy of Casey Jackson, Hannah, and Adam Poitras. The Den was rocking, your final from Sin City, 12-10 Desert Dogs.
Players of the game for Las Vegas were Hannah (3+5), Donville (1+4), and Webster (1+2). Geddie was a stud in net all game long, making 43 saves on 53 shots. For San Diego, Benesch (3+1), Hellyer (2+3), and Jackson (2+1) led the way. Origlieri did everything he could, ultimately coming up short. He stopped 28 of 40 in total.
“These fans have been cheering loud for us”, said Hannah after the game. “Making this environment awesome the last three years, being able to get one here and have this place sold out, makes it a really special night. It feels really good to be spreading the ball around and making sure everyone is getting their touches, because we’re a better team when we do it.”
Las Vegas (2-5) looks to build off the momentum of this win. They stay home as they welcome in the Georgia Swarm next Saturday at 10pm. San Diego (3-4) will try to get back to their winning ways. Their next chance is on their home floor as they welcome in Saskatchewan next Saturday at 10pm.
