Roughnecks Close the Door on Magical Seals Season

The San Diego Seals carried a 10-8 lead heading into the fourth quarter of their playoff bout with the visiting Calgary Roughnecks, but the final 15 minutes of play didn’t go as planned for the Seals. The Roughnecks outscored the Seals 4-1 in the final quarter to secure the 12-11 win in the National Lacrosse League (NLL) West Division Semifinal, presented by Michelob Ultra, at San Diego’s Pechanga Arena on Monday night.

Four different Roughnecks found the back of the net against goalie Frank Scigliano and the Seals’ defense in the team’s comeback effort, including nine-year NLL veteran Curtis Dickson’s lead-clinching score 7:04 into the fourth quarter. Dickson shared the team lead in points scored with Dane Dobbie with seven apiece in Calgary’s win on Monday night.

Dobbie finished the regular season ranked second in goals (47), second in assists (68) and first in total points scored (115) in the NLL. He added three goals and four assists against the Seals, two of which came in second-quarter power play opportunities.

Four of the Roughnecks’ goals came on power plays in the second quarter. Though San Diego stole one back with a short-handed score from Connor Kearnan, losing the power play battle proved costly down the stretch.

Seals veterans Dan Dawson and Kyle Buchanan facilitated the offense with four assists each, but without rookie forward Austin Staats, San Diego couldn’t close out a win.  Turner Evans, a three-year veteran forward with 19 goals scored in the regular season, led the team in goals with three in the affair.

Scigliano, who was an unprotected player on the Calgary roster this offseason and drafted by the Seals as part of the 2018 NLL Expansion Draft, didn’t have the night he likely wanted opposite of his former teammate. He logged just 31 saves and allowed 12 goals from 43 shots on goal, while Del Bianco recorded 43 saves and allowed 11 goals from 54 shots.

Advancing to the second round of the NLL Playoffs, presented by Michelob Ultra, Del Bianco and the Roughnecks will host the Colorado Mammoth on Friday, May 10 at 9:00 p.m. ET at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Fans can watch this game on B/R Live and Fanseat, as well as Saturday’s battle between the Rock and Bandits at 7:30 p.m. ET at the KeyBank Center.