Di Miller, NLL Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: Jake Whiting
On Saturday March 9, 2024, the Halifax Thunderbirds (7-6) headed across the continent to face off against the San Diego Seals (9-4). This game was extremely important for both as they were sitting at No. 3 & No. 4 in the standings. A win would catapult the Thunderbirds into the No. 3 spot; however a loss would drop them down to No. 5 given the head-to-head standings with Georgia. The first quarter was a battle of the net-minders with both Warren Hill and Christopher Origlieri playing stellar between the pipes. But as fate would have it, the second quarter has been the worst for Halifax and the best for San Diego and last nights contest would be no different. Halifax would implode with one penalty after another which allowed San Diego to go 7-12 on man up opportunities, which made all the difference. Final Score: Seals 12—Thunderbirds 8.
The first frame was a low scoring affair with the majority of the goals coming in the last two minutes. Clarke Petterson (2g, 2a) got things going 4:25 in. He fired a shot through two defenders, it was deflected off the leg of Origlieri and went in 1-0 Halifax. Dane Dobbie (2g, 6a) would even it up at 1-1 when he got the pick from Tre Leclaire and buried it top corner at 6:23. There were multiple transition attempts but both Hill and Origlieri were making tremendous stops. With 6:50 to go in the frame, the Seals would go man up. It took 39 seconds for Halifax to put up a shorthanded marker. With Eli Gobrecht all over his back, Aaron Woods (1g, 1a) fought his way to the net, Origlieri got big, but it wasn’t enough as Woods tucked it short side for the shorthanded tally with 6:11 to go and it was 2-1 for the T’Birds. The scoring picked up in the last two and change. Halifax would go on their own man up with 2:53 left in the first. Cody Jamieson (2g) uncorked a great twister shot and stung the top corner just 8 seconds into the power-play and it was 3-1. The Seals would then put up back-to-back tallies less than a minute apart. With 2:04 left, the Seals fired on cage and Hill made three amazing stops, unfortunately Jake Govett (1g) was on the crease and cleaned up the garbage to get them within one. Then, Tre Leclaire (2g, 2a) was on the run, created separation, planted his foot and fired a sidearm laser around his defender to tie it up at 3’s with 1:24 on the clock. The next goal came off a challenge by Thunderbirds Bench Boss Mike Accursi. It was a beautiful back and forth affair by Halifax on a three on two and Austin Shanks (2g, 2a) who was in the middle of the mix, found the back of the net. After review, the call was overturned and it was a good goal with 44 seconds on the ticker and they would regain the lead 4-3.
Halifax would have a horrible time in the second quarter and was hit with five penalties the first two which resulted in power-play tallies by San Diego. The first penalty 1:20 into the frame would be matching penalties so the teams were even 4 on 4. But when the T’Birds got their second and it was a 4 on 3 for the Seals, they used some beautiful ball movement and T. Leclaire was on the crease, and he pinged the top corner for a man up marker to tie it up at 4’s 2:25 in. On the next Halifax penalty, San Diego capitalized again. This time Austin Staats (4g, 1a) fired and stung the low corner and tied his career high of 37 goals in a season giving the Seals their first lead on the night 5-4. Halfway through the second, San Diego used the tic-tac-toe, Jacob Dunbar (2g, 4a) on the backside, got the cross-crease feed and found twine 6-4. Halifax would strike back less than 90 seconds later. Petterson flew off the bench, dove in front and put it far side halting the 9:56 scoring drought for the T’Birds and it was 5-6. Thirty seconds later, Wes Berg (1g, 7a) fed to Staats, and he tucked it near side corner giving him a new career high 38 goals in a season to re-establish the two goal lead. Before the frame ended, there would be a second challenge on the night for Halifax. Jake Fox headed to the cage, but his toe was on the crease and the T’Birds would lose the challenge as well as their final time out of the half with 51.4 seconds remaining. Neither team could capitalize in the remaining seconds, so the teams headed to the locker room with Halifax holding the lead 7-5.
There was very little scoring in the third, but of the four that did find the back of the net, three were man up tallies. Once again, Halifax would be plagued by penalties. The scoring got started early, just 52 seconds in and an identical tic-tac-toe play by the Seals. Dane Dobbie (3g, 6a) fed to Dunbar who was on the backdoor and he put it far side for their first powerplay goal in the frame and their first three goal lead on the night. Halifax would notch the next man up goal 5:01 in. Shanks threw a fake, then passed to Ryan Benesch (1g, 1a) who fired a quick stick shot near side and it was 6-8. Once again, Halifax would be hit with another set of penalties, this time one was a five-minute major with 5:35 left on the clock. Then, they’d see Tyson Bell get nabbed for a “dead ball foul” which awarded the Seals a penalty shot. Staats was the recipient, he slowly headed down the floor, pump faked several times, Hill matched him fake for fake and when Staats fired on the cage, Hill was ready and warded off the shot. But they still had to face the five-minute penalty and another set of penalties handed to Jamieson. The T’Birds played fantastic man down defense and held off the 5 on 3, then the 5 on 4, but with 1:17 left in the frame and less than a minute left on the major penalty, Berg flipped to Staats and he bounced one five-hole for their fourth man up on the night to make it 9-6. With just 27.7 seconds left in the third, Berg came off the bench, ran right through the middle, got the pass from Leclaire and buried it to close out the frame. Score at the end of three: Seals 10—Thunderbirds 6.
San Diego would outscore Halifax in the fourth and scored on all three penalties that the T’Birds were assessed. On the first Halifax penalty, Staats was left all alone and put one top inside corner at the 5:40 mark making him the first 40 goal scorer of the season and first time in his career. With less than half the fourth remaining, Jamieson crow hopped one in with a nice twister shot and pinged the top corner and it was 11-7. The final T’Birds tally came with 4:43 left in the contest. Petterson had a late pick to get Shanks open and he would bury one up high to make it 11-8. Dobbie would put up the final tally with 23.1 on the clock with an empty netter to finish it off. Final Score: Seals 12—Thunderbird 8.
FINAL STATS:
Halifax Thunderbirds—SOG 40; Saves 38; Sv% .760%; FO 12-25; PP 2-3; PIM 28
San Diego Seals—SOG 32; Saves 50; Sv% .800%; FO 13-25; PP 7-12; PIM 8
Stars of the Game:
Austin Staats—San Diego Seals: 4g, 1a
Dane Dobbie-San Diego Seals: 2g, 6a
Clarke Petterson—Halifax Thunderbirds: 2g, 2a
NEXT UP:
The Halifax Thunderbirds (7-6) will host Panther City Lacrosse Club (6-6) on Friday March 15, 2023, game time 7:30 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN+. Fans in Canada get to see the action on TSN+.
The San Diego Seals (9-4) will head to Scotiabank Saddledome to face the Calgary Roughnecks (5-7) on Friday March 15, 2024, game time 9:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN+. Fans in Canada get to see the action on TSN+.
Di Miller, NLL Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©