The late game of the Week 15 Friday night slate came to you from Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California. The hometown Seals were set to do battle with the visiting Vancouver Warriors. Both teams were right in the middle of the pack in the standings, so a win would be crucial in improving their playoff chances.
San Diego has been a tenacious team all year long, using late-game heroics to solidify victories in a few games already this season. Friday night was a lot of the same. The Seals pitched a shutout in the third quarter, all while scoring three goals of their own. That quarter very well could have been the difference as they beat Vancouver 13-11. To sunny SoCal we go.
Wesley Berg and the Seals wasted no time getting the early lead, as he buried his first just 25 seconds into the game. Vancouver silenced the home crowd in a big way, as they responded with four-straight in just 3:20 of game play. Those goals were scored by Marcus Klarich, Ryan Martel, Johnathan Peshko, and Riley Loewen. San Diego got the last laughs of the quarter with two in response, one from Ryan Benesch and the other from Berg on the power play. 4-3 Warriors after one.
The second quarter began, and it looked a lot like the first. San Diego scored the first two of the frame, tying it and retaking the lead. Those goals were scored by Zach Currier and Dylan Watson. However, much like the first, Vancouver answered back with another run, this time, three-in-a-row. Those goals were by Adam Charalambides, Owen Grant, and Martel. Guess what? Again, just like the first, San Diego answered back with the last few laughs of the second quarter as well. Three-straight for the Seals propelled themselves into the lead going into halftime. Those three were courtesy of Ben McIntosh, Benesch, and Berg. 8-7 Seals at the break.
“We’re coming off the bench hard”, said Berg about the team’s first half success. “We’re going to the net right away and playing a little reckless, which is fun. It’s fun from the bench to be watching and then getting chances on offense from it.”
The game completely turned in the third quarter as any Vancouver chances were stifled by San Diego’s defense and Christopher Origlieri. As we said at the beginning, the Seals also tacked on three more goals to their lead, which only boosted the momentum. Two of those goals were on the power play, one from Rob Hellyer and the other from Benesch. The third Seals’ goal was buried by Tre Leclaire. Blink your eyes and it was 11-7 Seals after three.
The game wasn’t a runaway after all, as Vancouver came out full bore in the fourth quarter and had something to say about it. Four-straight goals for the Warriors tied this game right back up. Pesko, Alec Stathakis, Keegan Bal on the power play, and Martel all buried their shots, and this game was knotted up at 11 with 9:52 to play. There was about an eight-minute stalemate to follow, but once again, the San Diego late-game heroics took over. First it was Berg burying his fourth to give the Seals the lead, and then Hellyer’s second put the nail in the coffin. That gave us our final, 13-11 Seals.
Players of the game for San Diego were Berg (4+3), Benesch (3+2), and Hellyer (2+7). Origlieri had his shining moments throughout, stopping 45 of 56 in total. For Vancouver, Martel (3+2), Peshko (2+1), and Bal (1+2) led the way. The goaltender situation for the Warriors was a bit messy, as Aden Walsh stopped 33 of 44 in 41:03 of game play and Connor O’Toole stopped nine of 11 the rest of the way.
“It’s just fitting for our team to make it a little hard on ourselves”, said Hellyer. “The last four games have been night and day from when we started. It’s a testament to what we knew we had in here; it was just a matter of time.”
San Diego (6-6) still sits in the eighth spot of the standings. They look to continue to climb in their next contest at home against Las Vegas (3-10). That game is this Sunday at 4:30pm. Vancouver (5-7) has dipped beneath the cutoff line and will look to get back to their winning ways. Their next game is this Friday night at 10pm against the visiting Toronto Rock (4-8).
