Austin Staats
The final game of the Week 15 Saturday night slate was the Saturday Showcase and was a preview of what’s to come in the playoffs. The San Diego Seals played host to the Halifax Thunderbirds, both of which sat in the top five in the NLL Standings. It was a 10pm start EST, so I hope you had your coffee. Oh, and I hope you like the color purple, because both teams had plenty of that.
One thing that you hear a lot of teams and coaches say is that they love when their team is “disciplined” and they stay out of the penalty box. Chances are Mike Accursi and the rest of the Thunderbirds are a bit disappointed after this game, as they accumulated 31 penalty minutes, resulting in San Diego burying six goals on the power play. Sheesh. San Diego used that, along with the backing of their home crowd to take this one, 13-8. Here’s a couple focal points: Christopher Origlieri is only 21 years young, so it’s an understatement that he’s going to be a problem for opposing offenses for MANY years to come. Also, this may have been one of the more juicy faceoff matchups we’ve seen, as Jake Withers took on Trevor Baptiste. Spoiler, Baptiste edged out Withers, 13-12 at the dot. Alright, to the action we go.
The first quarter was very much back-and-forth. Clarke Petterson got the scoring started, but was quickly answered by Dane Dobbie. Halifax proceeded to rattle off two-straight, one from Aaron Woods and the other from Cody Jamieson on the power play. San Diego saw that, and matched it. One from Jake Govett and the other from Tre LeClaire. Austin Shanks got the last laugh of the quarter for Halifax, bringing us to 4-3 T’Birds after a fast and furious first.
The first two goals of the second quarter were power play markers, both from a team in purple. Kidding, it was from San Diego, the first from LeClaire and the other from Austin Staats. Jacob Dunbar buried a third-in-a-row for the Seals, but Petterson answered that, finally stopping the bleeding. Staats scored his second to close out the quarter, giving us a 7-5 Seals lead going into the break.
The goaltender battle was a good one as well, as Origlieri was outstanding, stopping 15 of 20. Warren Hill was equally as stout, making 18 saves on 25 shots.
“I think for us, it’s playing five-on-five and staying out of the box,” said LeClaire at halftime. “For us it’s staying consistent the rest of the game.”
The first three goals of the third quarter were power play goals, two from San Diego, specifically Dunbar and Staats, and the other from Ryan Benesch for Halifax. The Seals really slowed the pace of the game in the frame, and Wesley Berg scored to close it out. 10-6 Seals after three. Origlieri, once again, was marvelous.
Shockingly, or not, the fourth also saw a power play goal to open it up, as Staats buried his fourth. Halifax made it interesting for a moment with two-in-a-row, one from Jamieson and the other from Shanks, but that’d be it the rest of the way. Dobbie buried a power play marker into an empty net in the final seconds to wrap this one up. Your final from Pechanga, 12-8 Seals.
Players of the game for Halifax were Petterson (2+2), Shanks (2+2), and Jamieson (two goals). Hill had his sparkling moments, ultimately coming up short. He stopped 38 of 50. For San Diego, Staats (4+1), Dobbie (2+6), and Berg (1+7) led the way. Origlieri was spectacular, stopping 32 of 40 for the night.
“My teammates are finding me in my spots and I’m burying my shots,” said Staats. “They (defensive unit) locked it down for us. I think they only scored two goals in the second half, that’s a top-caliber defense back there.”
San Diego (9-4) sits pretty towards the top of the standings. They look to build off this win as they travel to Calgary (5-7) this Friday at 9pm. Halifax (7-6) still is in good shape, just needs to stay out of the box. They look to right the ship as they head back home to take on PCLC (6-6) this Friday at 6:30pm.
