Justin Ivey, Co-Editor
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Coming into the final weekend of the NLL regular season, the Las Vegas Desert Dogs and the San Diego Seals are locked in a battle for a postseason berth. The teams played the first game of a doubleheader weekend on Friday night at Pechanga Arena. To set the stage, if either team swept the two-game weekend series, that team would clinch a playoff berth. In any situation, one of the two teams would make the postseason, but sweeping was the only guarantee. The Seals defended home floor with a huge night from Zach Currier (5G, 4A). In a relatively high-scoring game, San Diego also got hat tricks from Noah Armitage (3G, 1A) and Ben McIntosh (3G, 1A). The Desert Dogs, who led by three goals at one point, replaced starting goaltender Alex Buque (8GA, 24SV) in a comeback effort, but could not overcome the late deficit. Jonathan Donville (3G, 4A) was part of a big first quarter, and Chris Cloutier (3G, 1A) scored timely goals in the fourth. In the end, the third quarter was the difference. Christopher Origlieri (12GA, 39SV) pitched a shutout while the Seals offense scratched out two late-quarter goals. The two-goal difference would be the margin of victory. Final Score: Las Vegas Desert Dogs – 12, San Diego Seals – 14.
San Diego went into an early power play. During their first offensive possession, an off-ball penalty was called on the Desert Dogs. On their first run at the net, McIntosh picked up a juicy rebound on the crease and slipped it in. The goal was answered within a minute by Donville. He stepped around a screen and launched a sidearm bounce shot into the net. The next goal did not come until there was under 10 minutes left in the first. On the Desert Dogs’ first power play, Cloutier scored his first goal of the game with a shot from outside. Exactly two minutes later, Jackson Webster (1G) scored with a twister after navigating through a tough Seals ride. Donville made it four unanswered with 6:05 left, scoring from the same exact spot as his first goal. Armitage broke the streak with a nasty bounce shot from the point that hit the top far-side corner with 2:36 left. At the end of the first quarter, Las Vegas led San Diego 4-2.
The Seals found their stride at the start of the second. Tre Leclaire (1G, 4A) scored just 31 seconds in. Wes Berg () followed with a gritty bounce shot from the middle of the zone 24 seconds later. Suddenly, the game was tied. The teams battled to a stalemate until under the 10-minute mark again. San Diego then emerged with their fourth unanswered goal. Currier scored his first of the game while jumping over the crease. After grabbing a rebound and circling to the top, he dangled through a dodge and reached the ball over the side of Buque. Las Vegas broke in transition after the ensuing faceoff with a numbers advantage. Ben Soenen (1G) scored his first NLL goal during the break. Just over a minute later, Kevin Crowley (1G, 1A) gave the lead back to Las Vegas with a sidearm laser. Currier got the Seals back on track. He toe-dragged around his defender, but dropped the ball in the crease behind the net. In stride, he scooped it up and scored diving to the side of the net. Just over two minutes later, Currier broke out in transition ahead of the defense and scored while jumping over the side of the crease once more. The Seals took the lead 7-6. Mitch Jones (1G, 4A) tied the game at seven with 2:10 remaining. Las Vegas flipped the lead again with a goal from Adam Poitras (2G, 2A). With 1:15 to go, he ran right by his defender and scored while jumping through the crease. McIntosh tied the game with 40 seconds left, quickly releasing a bounce shot that seemingly surprised Buque. Landon Kells (6GA, 23SV) came in to replace Buque and remained in net for the rest of the game. At the half, Las Vegas and San Diego were tied 8-8.
The third quarter was the difference. After no penalties in the second quarter, both teams nearly escaped the third with clean sheets as well. With six seconds left, San Diego was called for holding. Until then, both teams played clean and hard. Kells and the Las Vegas defense allowed only two goals, but unfortunately the offense scored none. San Diego did not get the first until 3:51 remained. Armitage scored the opening goal on Kells. He pushed the ball into Kells’ stick-side shoulder, where it rolled backward and into the net. Currier provided the second goal, his fourth of the game. With 1:32 left, he went untouched around a great seal and dove across the front of the crease. At the end of the third quarter, San Diego led Las Vegas 10-8.
The two-goal lead lasted through to the end of the game. The fourth quarter was the definition of back-and-forth. San Diego extended the lead to three just 27 seconds in with a goal from Berg. Las Vegas cut it back to two shortly after with Cloutier’s second of the game. The pattern continued three more times. Armitage scored his hat trick goal on a diving effort off a quick restart, but Donville answered for Las Vegas once more. Currier scored next with 6:21 to play. His fifth goal of the game came from the crease once again, as he buried the ball over Kells’ glove-side shoulder. Poitras scored for Vegas almost a minute later after a tight inside pick-and-roll with Jones. With time dwindling, McIntosh extended the lead to three once more with 4:01 left, scoring over the same shoulder as Currier. Las Vegas added one more, a power-play goal from Cloutier, to bring the game to the final margin. Final Score: Las Vegas Desert Dogs – 12, San Diego Seals – 14.
Up Next:
The San Diego Seals travel to play the Las Vegas Desert Dogs on Saturday, April 18 at 10:00 PM EDT.