NLL: Seals beat Riptide in battle of the coasts

The San Diego Seals are about to take part in the first-ever NLL game in Las Vegas. To get you set up for it, here’s how they fared last game.

The Seals soundly defeated the New York Riptide in an East Coast/West Coast battle that was won by the West.

New York seemed to have all the pieces, but then the victory was swept away by the Seals. Jean-Luc Chetner (who earned the third star) had a hat trick and two assists while Tyson Gibson had the same. Tyler Digby also came up big for New York with two goals and four assists.

Gowah Abrams and Alex Buque shared time between the pipes. Abrams had 29 saves while Buque had nine.

This game seemed tamer than other recent games with only 29 penalty minutes.

New York won the ground ball game, scooping up 71 balls. San Diego picked up 66 with 10 coming from Brodie Merrill.

The Seals seemed to be doing almost everything right other than the ground ball game. First, they went a perfect 3-3 on their power play, something that probably delighted head coach Patrick Merrill.

Second, over 10 players contributed points in some way including Connor Fields who had one goal and four assists. Jeremy Noble had one goal and five assists. Zach Greer had three goals and one assist, and his contributions earned him first star while Wesley Berg received second star. Nick Damude recorded 36 saves in his first ever start and win.

Patrick Merrill seems pleased with his team’s victory and indicates that the team is headed in the right direction stating, “it was nice to see Damude get his first win tonight. We’re looking to carry this momentum into next weekend. I feel we continue to get better.”