Stop No. 1 on the San Diego Seals 2025-26 NLL Tour - A Visit to Ottawa to Open the Season against the Black Bears
NLL San Diego Seals

Stop No. 1 on the San Diego Seals 2025-26 NLL Tour - A Visit to Ottawa to Open the Season against the Black Bears

Published on November 25, 2025 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
San Diego Seals News Release


It's a very early start to this year's National Lacrosse League campaign as the Seals will begin their season in November for the first time in franchise history. It will happen this Saturday (Nov. 29) when they open the 2025-26 NLL season against the Ottawa Black Bears at the Canadian Tire Centre. Faceoff is 4 p.m. PT.

Last year when the Seals opened at home on Dec. 1, 2024, that marked the previous earliest start to the season. The Seals and Black Bears met just once last season with the Seals eking out a 6-5 win at Pechanga Arena in the lowest scoring game of the regular season for both teams.

Saturday night's g ame will be broadcast locally in San Diego on Spectrum Cable Channel 4 and it will be streamed to a global audience on ESPN+.

The Seals' 2025-26 roster is a mix of new and old. While the team returns a host 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 Heading Into The 2025-26 Season

- Wes Berg (281 career goals) needs 19 more to reach 300 for his career.

- Berg (398) career assists) needs 2 more to reach 400 for his career.

- Berg (679 career points) needs 21 more to reach 700 for his career.

- Trevor Baptiste (1,622 career faceoff wins) ranks 9 th all-time in NLL history and he needs 29 more to move past Stephen Hoar (1,650) and into 8 th on the all-time list.

- Baptiste needs to secure 36 more loose balls to reach 1,000 for his career

Recent Roster Moves

On Monday, the Seals submitted their initial 21-man regular season roster to the League and there were a few notes heading into this weekend's season opener. The Seals will carry eight forwards into Ottawa, 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 Armitrage.

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-Black Bears Head-to-Head

The Black Bears are the former New York Riptide. The franchise relocated from Long Island to Ottawa and re-branded prior the 2024-25 season. The Seals hold a 3-1 series edge over the Black Bears/Riptide, including a 6-5 win last season. In the three previous games against the Riptide, all of which were played in New York, the Seals won two of three, including a 15-11 win during the 2019-20 season and a 15-14 victory during the 2022-23 season. New York's lone victory was a 10-8 win during the 2023-24 season, the Riptide's last at the Nassau Coliseum.

A Look Back at Last Season's Contest: In a tight, low-scoring, defensive affair, the Seals picked up a key 6-5 win over the Black Bears at Pechanga Arena and in the process, they became the first team in NLL history to win a game when scoring just six goals. The Seals' defense and goaltender Chris Origlieri were the story of the night as the team held Ottawa scoreless for the final 37:02 of regulation, while Origlieri made 31 saves. It was a 2-2 game after one quarter with one of the goals scored by a spinning Ben McIntosh at the top of the crease 1:24 into the contest. The Seals added another pair in the second but were outscored by Ottawa 3-2 in the period and trailed 5-4 at the break. Both Seals goals were scored by players who netted their first of the season. Graydon Bradley scored first, 3:28 into the quarter before Matt Wright put one in 24 seconds later. Wright's was also the first of his career. San Diego came out of the locker room roaring after halftime and the Seals were consistent, scoring another pair in the third. Just 40 seconds into the quarter, Berg scored on a diving shot down the middle to tie the game at 5-5 and just 58 seconds later, he did it again with a shot from the top of the crease to put the Seals up 6-5.

Ticket Information: Single-game and season tickets for all 9 regular season Seals home games are available at https://sealslax.com/.

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.

Pechanga Arena - The Electric Factory

When the Seals are at home, Pechanga Arena, aka "The Electric Factory," is one of the toughest arenas to play in for opposing teams in the National Lacrosse League. 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.

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 62-40 (.608) 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.

San Diego Seals 2025-26 Regular-Season Schedule

Date Opponent Arena Theme Broadcast Info Faceoff

Saturday, Nov. 29 at Ottawa Black Bears Canadian Tire Centre Spectrum 4& ESPN+ 4:00 p.m.

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

Saturday, Jan. 3 CALGARY ROUGHNECKS Pechanga Arena Country Night ESPN2 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 ESPN2 7:30 p.m.

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

Home games in CAPS. All Times Pacific.

Check out the San Diego Seals Statistics

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National Lacrosse League Stories from November 25, 2025


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