NLL Panther City Lacrosse Club

Panther City Lacrosse Club Practice Report: February 4 at San Diego

Published on February 4, 2023 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Panther City Lacrosse Club News Release


The Panther City Lacrosse Club traveled to the West Coast for a match-up with the Western Division leading San Diego Seals on Friday. The team practiced at Knockaround Field Friday evening and held their morning shootaround on Saturday. Panther City enters the game coming off their best offensive performance of the season, but will be relying on their defense to stymie the San Diego offense.

In Panther City's four wins on the year, the club is surrendering just under eight goals a game - led by goalie Nick Damude who enters the game with the fourth best goals against average in the NLL (9.47) and has allowed the fewest goals in a single game this year, as Las Vegas only netted three goals on 12/16/22. In front of Damude, Matt Hossack continues to elevate his game. The sixth-year defenseman currently has 48 loose balls and 12 caused turnovers, which is third-best in the league. Through seven games, Hossack has recorded three games with three caused turnovers. Liam Byrnes (8) and Evan Messenger (6) have also stepped up out of the back door and helped create turnovers, which has enabled Panther City's transition game. Transition player Josh Medeiros has recorded six goals on nine shots on goal through seven games this year. Medeiros finished the 2021-22 season with eight goals.

Tonight's game can be seen on Bally Sports Southwest and ESPN+. Face-off is set for 9:00 p.m. CT.

POST PRACTICE QUOTES

HEAD COACH TRACEY KELUSKY QUOTES

On the defense's performance thus far this year...

"Your best defender has to be your goaltender. I really like Nicky's [goalie Nick Damude] maturity last weekend. He started off shaky. They [scored] three [quick goals] and they were okay looks, but at the same point, his ability to rebound and make some timely saves, in particular when that game was close in the first quarter was good. The insertion of Evan Messenger has been real good. Dylan Hutchison, who was with us last year, has taken on more of a roll. Brooker Muir has done an excellent job when he is in. Collectively speaking, I think we are harder to play against and a little more cohesive than we were last year."

On the play of newly appointed captain Matt Hossack...

"I like his approach in the sense that he is helping these guys through. His ability on the floor and what he is able to do as a stand-alone defender speaks for itself. He is arguably one of the best defenders in the league. One of the things I like about Hoss, and it is why he is one of our captains, is he is communicating. He is holding guys accountable on the back side. A lot of it is communication and cross checking and sticking to our principle base defense of scheme - and really he is an extension of Toller [Defensive Coordinator Steve Toll] on that and done a really good job of getting the guys bought in and doing the things we are asking."

On the keys to tonight's game defensively...

"There is only one ball. Ultimately, I like the fact that I don't think we have any pigeons on the back side. I think we have a stellar group of 10 defenders that can come at you. Everyone certainly brings their own intangibles to the table, but collectively, I think we play a real good defensive game. I am excited to see our guys match up with arguably the best offense in the league and see how we fare."

DEFENSEMAN MATT HOSSACK QUOTES

On the defense's performance thus far this year...

"Overall, we have been playing a lot tighter as a group and communicating a lot better. Even though we allowed seven [goals], I don't think last game was our best effort. I think Nicky [goalie Nick Damude] bailed us out a bunch and was playing really well. We are at our best when we are playing really tight and we are flying in and flying out on defense and then communicating everything we see. Truly talking about everything going on, every situation and stuff - that is when we are at our best."

On his play this season and the success he is having...

"Honestly, I don't know if it is that much different from my end, but it is more the guys around me. When you are playing better team defense they you are able to get more CTs [caused turnovers]. It is not necessarily about me, but I think it is more of a group thing of what that says overall."

On the keys to tonight's game defensively...

"Big thing for us is dictating the tempo a bit. These guys are all pretty smart and deliberate with what they do, so if a guy standing somewhere it is about getting him away [from that spot] because if he is standing somewhere they realistically want to be there. It is being two steps ahead and then also just dictating what we want to see out of the offense and getting them in situations that benefit us rather than them."

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