The San Diego Seals are a professional box lacrosse team based in San Diego, California, that competes in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The team plays its home games at Pechanga Arena. The Seals began play in the 2018-2019 season.
 | |
| Sport | Box lacrosse |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2017 |
| League | National Lacrosse League |
| Location | San Diego, California |
| Arena | Pechanga Arena |
| Colors | Purple, black, gold, gray |
| Owner | Joseph Tsai |
| Head coach | Patrick Merrill |
| General manager | Patrick Merrill |
| Division titles | 2 (2022, 2023) |
| Playoff berths | 4 (2019, 2022, 2023, 2024) |
| Retired numbers | 1 (17) |
| Website | sealslax.com |
History
editOn August 30, 2017, the NLL awarded an expansion franchise to the city of San Diego and owner Joseph Tsai, co-founder of the Chinese e-commerce platform Alibaba Group. Tsai, a La Jolla resident, "played lacrosse at Yale University and retains a passion for the sport."[1] The franchise fee for San Diego and fellow expansion team Philadelphia Wings was a reported $5 million.[2]
On October 24, 2017, the name of the franchise was revealed as the San Diego Seals.[3]
Current roster
edit| Active (21-man) roster | Inactive roster | Coaches | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
[1] updated 2024-12-16 | ||||||
All-time record
edit| Season | Standing[a] | W–L | Home | Road | GF | GA | Avg.
attendance |
1st round | 2nd round | Finals | Awards | Coach |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 2nd, Western | 10–8 | 6–3 | 4–5 | 208 | 217 | 7,769 | L, 11–12, CAL | — | — | Austin Staats ROY | Patrick Merrill |
| 2020 | 3rd, Western | 6–6 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 138 | 131 | 4,829 | Playoffs canceled | ||||
| 2021 | Season canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic | |||||||||||
| 2022 | 1st, Western | 10–8 | 5–4 | 5–4 | 202 | 183 | 5,777 | W, 9–8, PHI | L, 1–2, COL | — | ||
| 2023 | 1st, Western | 14–4 | 7–2 | 7–2 | 240 | 193 | 5,114 | L, 12–13, COL | — | — | ||
| 2024 | 2nd | 13-5 | 8–1 | 5–4 | 210 | 178 | 4,710 | W, 9–8, PCLC | L, 0–2, ALB | — | ||
| Total | 5 seasons | 53–31 | 29–13 | 24–18 | 998 | 902 | 5,446 | 4 Appearances, 0 Championships | ||||
Playoff results
edit| Season | Game | Visiting | Home |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Western Division Semi-Finals | Calgary 12 | San Diego 11 |
| 2022 | Western Conference Semi-finals | Philadelphia 8 | San Diego 9 |
| Western Conference Finals Game 1 | Colorado 14 | San Diego 12 | |
| Western Conference Finals Game 2 | San Diego 11 | Colorado 10 | |
| Western Conference Finals Game 3 | Colorado 15 | San Diego 13 | |
| 2023 | Western Conference Semi-Finals | Colorado 13 | San Diego 12 |
| 2024 | Quarterfinals | Panther City 8 | San Diego 9 |
| Semi-Finals Game 1 | Albany 14 | San Diego 12 | |
| Semi-Finals Game 2 | San Diego 10 | Albany 13 |
Awards and honors
edit| Year | Player | Award |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Austin Staats | Rookie of the Year |
Retired numbers
edit| No. | Player | Date | Tenure |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17[4] | Brodie Merrill | December 9, 2023 | 2019-23 |
Draft history
editNLL Entry Draft
editFirst Round Selections
- 2018: Austin Staats (1st overall), Connor Fields (10th overall), Connor Kearnan (11th overall)
- 2019: None
- 2020: Tre Leclaire (4th overall), Mac O'Keefe (15th overall)
- 2021: Mike McCannell (5th overall), Patrick Shoemay (9th overall), Jacob Dunbar (13th overall)
- 2022: Jake Govett (22nd overall)
- 2023: Matthew Wright (13th overall)
- 2024: Trent DiCicco (9th overall), Jacob Power (12th overall), Robbie Turpin (14th overall)
NLL Dispersal Draft
edit- 2024 from Panther City Lacrosse Club: Justin Sykes (11th overall); Callum Crawford (25th overall)
NLL Entry Draft
edit- 2019 to Rochester Knighthawks & New York Riptide: Rylan Hartley (5th overall), Connor Kelly (6th overall)
- 2021 to Panther City Lacrosse Club: Nick Damude (5th overall)
- 2022 to Las Vegas Desert Dogs: Frank Scigliano (12th overall)
Head coaching history
edit| # | Name | Term | Regular Season | Playoffs | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GC | W | L | W% | GC | W | L | W% | |||
| 1 | Patrick Merrill | 2019– | 84 | 53 | 31 | .631 | 9 | 3 | 6 | .333 |
Media
editIn November 2023, a five-part docuseries recounting the Seals' 2022 season was released on Amazon Prime. It was titled War on the Floor: A Season with the San Diego Seals.[5][6]
Notes
edit- ^ League was separated into "Divisions" until 2022, called "Conferences" in 2022 and 2023, system was dissolved in 2024.
References
edit- ^ de Crescenzo, Sarah (October 26, 2017). "New San Diego Lacrosse Team Selects Sea Mammal Mascot". San Diego Business Journal. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
- ^ Ingemi, Marisa (September 13, 2017). "Even biggest skeptics can't deny NLL's growth". US Lacrosse Magazine. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
- ^ "A LAX San Diego team name: Seals". Retrieved October 24, 2017.
- ^ "NLL: Seals earn hard-fought victory as team honours Brodie Merrill". In Lacrosse We Trust. 2023-12-11.
- ^ War on the Floor: A Season with the San Diego Seals (Documentary), Jalbert Productions, 2023-11-27, retrieved 2024-12-30
- ^ "San Diego Seals Announce Five-Part Amazon Prime Series". www.insidelacrosse.com. Retrieved 2024-12-30.