Two goalies. One hundred and two shots. Eighty-nine saves, and 60 minutes of tough, chippy lacrosse equaled one epic defensive battle. The return of grizzled warrior Brodie Merrill to the San Diego lineup was just the edge the San Diego Seals needed as they went on to defeat the Calgary Roughnecks 7-6 on Friday night at Scotiabank Saddledome in front of 14,143 fans.
“It had that playoff atmosphere in here – obviously a great crowd. They played really, really well. They were tough to penetrate defensively. They’re always really tough to play against especially in this barn,” said San Diego’s head coach Patrick Merrill via Twitter. “I felt like our defense – that’s probably one of the best efforts we’ve had all year. Chris (Origlieri) was unbelievable.”
The Seals got out to a hot start scoring the opening four goals of the game. Curtis Dickson joined the 1000-point club after registering an assist on Tre Leclaire’s first goal. Calgary finally got on the board when Shane Simpson sniped his league leading 14th goal in transition with just under a minute left in the first.
San Diego added to their lead in the second quarter with beautiful goals from Wes Berg and Austin Staats. Berg took a Curtis Dickson feed and proceeded to whip a behind-the-back shot that beat Del Bianco shortside. Minutes later, Staats came barrelling downhill on Reece Callies and, in classic Austin Staats fashion, dove across the crease and tucked the ball farside. With his two goals on the night, Staats moves into second place with 42 goals – just one behind Jeff Teat. A late power play goal from Tyler Pace was all Calgary could muster as they went to the locker room down 6-2.
Sensing the urgency of the situation, Calgary shooters finally started to find their range. Two goals by Jesse King and one by Tanner Cook had the Riggers within one of the lead. However, a set play to end the third would eventually lead to the game winning goal. Dane Dobbie moved the ball up-floor and delivered a behind-the-back pass to Austin Staats. Staats faked the shot and hit Tre Leclaire on the crease for a quick stick goal and a 7-5 lead.
The fourth quarter was a defensive master class. Not only were goals scarce, but the temperature of the game was nearing the boiling point. Butt-ends, helmets getting ripped off, and hits from behind had the game on the verge of an all-out brawl. Only the score kept the game from getting out of hand and with three minutes left a Tanner Cook goal had the Roughnecks back within a one. Chris Origlieri and the San Diego defense weathered the final minutes and were able to hang on for the 7-6 victory. The win gives the Seals a 10-4 record – good for second overall in the NLL standings.
Christian Del Bianco was easily Calgary’s top player as he faced an amazing 61 shots and stopped 54 of them. Del Bianco’s counterpart, Chris Origlieri, turned aside 35 of the 41 shots fired his way. San Diego won the loose ball battle 79-53 and also dominated the face-off dot with Trevor Baptiste winning 15 of 18 draws.
The Calgary Roughnecks (5-8) will host the upstart Albany Firewolves (10-4) for the first time ever next Friday at Westjet Field in Calgary. The San Diego Seals (10-4) will return home to face the Las Vegas Desert Dogs (4-9) on Saturday night.
