San Diego Seals Ready to Rock
NLL San Diego Seals

San Diego Seals Ready to Rock "The Electric Factory" for Their Home Opener this Sunday Afternoon against Rochester

Published on December 9, 2025 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
San Diego Seals News Release


Fresh off a 16-13 win in Ottawa to jump start their 2025-26 National Lacrosse League campaign, the San Diego Seals (1-0) are ready to rock Pechanga Arena, aka "The Electric Factory" this Sunday (Dec. 14) when they face the Rochester Knighthawks (0-0) in their home opener. It's a matinee affair with faceoff set for 2 p.m. PT.

Sunday's tilt with the Knighthawks will be broadcast to a national television audience on ESPN2 and streamed globally on ESPN+.

The Electric Factory has become one of the toughest arenas to play in for opposing teams in the National Lacrosse League. The Seals are 4-2 all-time in their home openers. The Seals went 6-3 at home a season ago and they come into the 2025-26 season having won nine of their last 12 regular-season games at Pechanga Arena. And since the start of the 2022-23 season, San Diego is 21-6 in regular-season games played inside The Electric Factory.

Single-game tickets for Sunday's game against the Knighthawks along with season tickets for all nine regular season Seals home games are currently on sale at https://sealslax.com/. Single-game tickets start as low as $22, while season tickets start at just $153.

Offensively, the Seals are clicking on all cylinders after scoring 16 goals at Ottawa in their season opener last Saturday night. Tre Leclaire is healthy after battling injuries last season and exploded for five goals and four assists in the win over the Black Bears. Newcomers Corey Small, Connor Robinson and Noah Armitage made huge contributions as well as Small tallied three goals and an assist, Robinson a goal and three assists, and Armitage two of each. Trevor Baptiste, who also battled injuries last season, was a beast in the faceoff circle, winning 28 of 33 while also scoring a goal after winning the faceoff to start the second period.

And while the Seals had their earliest season start in franchise history playing their season opener on Nov. 29, Rochester will play its season opener against the Seals.

The Knighthawks went 10-8 and were a playoff team a season ago. The Seals will be eager to face the Knighthawks with revenge on their minds after Rochester won last season's only meeting 14-13, in New York, on a goal with 11 seconds remaining after the Seals had erased a six-goal deficit to tie the game late. Rochester was eliminated in the first round of the 2024-25 NLL playoffs, falling to Vancouver, 15-10.

Seals-Knighthawks Head-to-Head

All-time, the Seals and Rochester Knighthawks have met three times and the Seals hold a 2-1 series edge. Rochester won last season's meeting by a 10-8 score in New York after the Seals won the first two games in the series, both of which were played in San Diego: 19-6 in 2020 and 17-14 in 2023.

A Look Back at Last Season's Contest: Ryan Smith's fifth goal of the night with just 11 seconds remaining erased a furious comeback by the Seals as the Knighthawks stunned the Seals, 14-13, at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, New York. Down 12-6 midway through the third period, the Seals staged a furious comeback and scored seven of the game's next eight goals to tie the game at 13-13 with 6:06 left in the fourth. Rochester got the best of the Seals early on as it was a 5-3 game after one period with eight different players scoring goals. For the Seals, Zach Currier opened the scoring with a highlight-reel play, rebounding a shot that went over Knighthawks goalie Rylan Hartley's left shoulder and over the net and instinctively shooting over the top of the net and sneaking one in behind the unsuspecting Hartley. The Seals' other two goals came off the sticks of Tre LeClaire and Wes Berg, the latter from Berg coming on a power play. The Knighthawks outscored the Seals 4-2 in the second quarter to take a 9-5 halftime lead. Connor Fields and Ryan Smith both scored twice for Rochester while the Seals two goals were both scored on transition plays. Leclaire scored his second of the night picking up a long rebound off a Rochester shot and taking it the length of the field to score on a breakaway goal, while Trent DiCicco took a long pass from Seals' goaltender Chris Origlieri and hammered one in from just outside the crease, beating Hartley between the legs. Things started to get interesting in the third quarter. The Knighthawks outscored the Seals 3-1 over the first 6:28 to jump ahead 12-6 before the Seals went on a 4-0 run of their own to get within two. Jake Govett scored two of the goals. After Govett's second goal that came with 4:15 remaining, the Knighthawks pulled Hartley and put Riley Hutchcraft between the pipes. Rochester got a goal from Thomas McConvey with 45 seconds left in the quarter to halt the Seals run but Leclaire answered 37 seconds later with his team-leading fourth of the night to get the Seals back within two at 13-11 heading into the fourth. The Seals kept it up in the fourth, drawing to within one after Berg picked up a rebound and scored to get the Seals to within 13-12. With 7:52 left in the fourth, DiCicco was sent to the penalty box for a cross-checking penalty, but the Seals got the better of it as Govett scored his third of the night, a shorthanded goal off a pass from Currier that tied things up at 13-13. It was the game's first tie since 12:25 mark of the first quarter. Unfortunately for San Diego, the Knighthawks defense buckled down and held the Seals out of the net for the final 6:06 and Smith's goal won it for Rochester.

A glance at the 2025-26 Seals Roster

The Seals' 2025-26 roster is a mix of new and old. While the team returns many of its top players from a year ago, they've also added a number of new faces.

Top returnees include forward and team captain Wes Berg, goaltender Chris Origlieri, faceoff specialist Trevor Baptiste, forwards Pat Kavanagh, Tre Leclaire and Ben McIntosh, transition men Zach Currier and Trent DiCicco, and defenders Eli Gobrecht, Danny Logan and Graydon Bradley.

Among the Seals' returnees, Berg ranked second in the NLL a season ago with 49 goals to go along with 39 assists. His 88 points were second on the team. McIntosh chipped in with 24 goals and 42 assists as his 66 points ranked fourth on the team). And Currier scooped up the League's third-most loose balls (193), while forcing the third-most turnovers (32). And with the ball in his lacrosse stick, Currier's 47 points (18G and 29A) ranked fifth on the squad.

The team's top newcomers include forwards Connor Robinson and Corey Small. Robinson, who came over in a trade from Colorado, was the third-leading scorer for the Mammoth a season ago, tallying 67 points on 23 goals and 44 assists, while Small, who signed with the Seals as a free agent, was the third-leading scorer for the Toronto Rock with 51 points on 25 goals and 26 assists during the 2024-25 season.

The Seals are also excited about their top two picks from this year's NLL Draft, transition man Ari Steenhuis from St. Catharines and forward Chris Kavanagh (younger brother of Pat) from Notre Dame.

Regular-Season Milestones on the Horizon

- Wes Berg (282 career goals) needs 18 more to reach 300 for his career.

- Berg (684 career points) needs 16 more to reach 700 for his career.

- Trevor Baptiste has 1,650 career faceoff wins and needs 50 more to reach 1,700.

- Baptiste has 977 career loose balls secured and needs just 23 more to reach 1,000 for his career.

- Eli Gobrecht has 86 career forced turnovers and needs just 14 more to reach 100.

- Corey Small has scored 949 career points and needs 51 more to reach 1,000.

Roster Breakdown

The Seals' current 21-man regular season roster sees the team carrying eight forwards, seven defenders, four transition men and two goalies. The breakdown is below:

Forwards: Wes Berg, Ben McIntosh, Jake Govett, Tre Leclaire, Dylan Watson, Connor Robinson, Corey Small, and Noah Armitage.

Defensemen: Kellen Leclair, Graydon Bradley, Eli Gobrecht, Matt Wright, Patrick Shoemay, James Barclay and Zack Deaken.

Transition: Zach Currier, Trent DiCicco, faceoff specialist Trevor Baptiste and rookie Ari Steenhuis.

Goaltenders: Chris Origlieri and Cam Dunkerley.

Also, defender Danny Logan, forward Pat Kavanagh and transition man Cam Acchione are going to start the season on Injured-Reserve, while fellow forward Chris Kavanagh will begin the year on the Physically Unable to Perform list. All players are expected to return, though there is no timeline for when that will take place.

Team Captains

Head Coach and General Manager Patrick Merrill announced the team's 2025-26 Team Captains going into the season as voted on by the players.

Wes Berg will serve as team captain for the third straight season. Danny Logan and Graydon Bradley have been selected as assistant captains for home games, while Zach Currier and Eli Gobrecht have been tabbed as assistant captains for the team's road contests.

Seals Head Coach and General Manager Patrick Merrill

Seals Head Coach and General Manager Patrick Merrill owns a career regular-season won-loss ledger of 63-40 (.612) since joining the Seals in 2018. He has guided the Seals to the playoffs in each of the five full seasons he's been at the helm.

Follow the Seals on Social Media

For the latest info on the Seals, visit https://www.sealslax.com/ and follow the team on social media at @SealsLax on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.

2025-26 Game Recaps

Game 1 at Ottawa: The Seals opened their 2025-26 NLL in Ottawa and needed every one of the 16 goals they scored as they held off a feisty Black Bears squad, 16-13, to earn their first win of the season. It was a thrilling game that saw the teams combine for an unbelievable 14 goals in the fourth quarter, and it wasn't decided until James Barclay scored an empty-netter with 23 seconds left to seal the win. Tre Leclaire scored a game-high five goals for the Seals, including a clutch goal with 2:12 left in the game that halted a late 4-0 run by Ottawa. It was part of a monster night for the veteran forward, who added four assists for a team-leading nine points.

The Seals came roaring out the gates scoring to start the season, scoring the game's first six goals. Newcomers Corey Small and Connor Robinson didn't waste any time making an immediate impression on their new teammates by scoring the game's first three goals. Small netted a pair, scoring his first 1:51 into the game before scoring again 46 seconds later, while Robinson scored 5:10 into the first to put the Seals up 3-0.

The onslaught continued to begin the second quarter. Faceoff specialist Trevor Baptiste won the battle for the ball to open the second quarter and took it in unassisted for a goal that put the Seals up 4-0. Leclaire would then score his first of the night at the 11:08 mark before rookie Noah Armitage, playing in his first career NLL game, scored to put the Seals up 6-0.

Looking for a spark down 6-0 early in the second, Ottawa's Luc Magnan dropped the gloves with Seals defender Patrick Shoemay with both drawing five-minute major penalties. The move seemed to work as just three minutes later, Ottawa found the back of the net for the first time on the night and the Black Bears would procced to go on a three-goal run to trim the deficit in half and get within 6-3. Leclaire halted the run with his second of the night, but Ottawa's Riley O'Connor countered 42 seconds later and the teams went to the halftime break with the Seals on top, 7-4.

The teams traded goals in the third with each side scoring a pair. Both of the Black Bears' goals were scored on no-look shots, while the Seals' goals came from Dylan Watson and Small on a power play. Small's goal, his third of the night for the hat trick, also came on a rare 4-on-3 power play.

Then came the fireworks with the teams combining for the 14 fourth quarter goals with each team scoring seven times. The Seals outscored Ottawa 5-3 over the first 7:45 of the period before the Black Bears answered with the aforementioned four-goal run to get within 14-13, but Leclaire and Barclay's goals sealed the deal for the visitors who escaped with the win.

Notable: With 28 faceoff wins, Baptiste ran his career total to 1,650, moving him into a tie with Stephen Hoar for eighth-most in NLL history.

San Diego Seals 2025-26 Regular-Season Schedule

1-0 Overall; 0-0 Home; 1-0 Road

Date Opponent Arena Theme Broadcast Info Faceoff

Saturday, Nov. 29 at Ottawa Black Bears Canadian Tire Centre W, 16-13

Sunday, Dec. 14 ROCHESTER KNIGHTHAWKS Pechanga Arena Opening Night ESPN2 2:00 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 3 CALGARY ROUGHNECKS Pechanga Arena Country Night ESPNU 7:00 p.m.

Friday, Jan. 9 TORONTO ROCK Pechanga Arena Retro Night Spectrum 4& ESPN+ 7:30 p.m.

Friday, Jan. 16 at Vancouver Warriors Rogers Arena Spectrum 4& ESPN+ 7:30 p.m.

Friday, Jan. 23 at Philadelphia Wings Xfinity Mobile Arena Spectrum 4& ESPN+ 4:00 p.m.

Friday, Jan. 30 PHILADELPHIA WINGS Pechanga Arena Heroes Night Spectrum 4& ESPN+ 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 7 SASKATCHEWAN RUSH Pechanga Arena Rock the Box Night Spectrum 4& ESPN+ 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 14 at Oshawa FireWolves Tribute Communities Centre Spectrum 4& ESPN+ 4:00 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 21 HALIFAX THUNDERBIRDS Pechanga Arena Margaritaville Night Spectrum 4& ESPN+ 7:00 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 27 at Colorado Mammoth Ball Arena Spectrum 4& ESPN+ 6:00 p.m.

Sunday, March 1 VANCOUVER WARRIORS Pechanga Arena Celebrate San Diego Night Spectrum 4& ESPN+ 3:00 p.m.

Saturday, March 14 at Saskatchewan Rush SaskTel Centre Spectrum 4& ESPN+ 5:00 p.m.

Saturday, March 21 BUFFALO BANDITS Pechanga Arena Seals Mania Spectrum 4& ESPN+ 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, April 4 at Toronto Rock Paramount Foods Centre Spectrum 4& ESPN+ 4:00 p.m.

Sunday, April 12 at Georgia Swarm Gas South Arena Spectrum 4& ESPN+ 12:00 p.m.

Friday, April 17 LAS VEGAS DESERT DOGS Pechanga Arena Fan Appreciation Night ESPNU 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, April 18 at Las Vegas Desert Dogs Lee's Family Forum Spectrum 4& ESPN+ 7:00 p.m.

All Times Pacific.

Check out the San Diego Seals Statistics

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National Lacrosse League Stories from December 9, 2025


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