The San Diego Seals and Las Vegas Desert Dogs concluded their regular seasons with a home-and-home doubleheader in Week 21. Both teams started the weekend at 7-9 – the Seals coming off a win against Georgia that kept their playoff hopes alive, the Desert Dogs looking to bounce back after two straight losses, including a loss to last-place Philadelphia the week prior.
The common opponents tiebreaker between the teams favored the Seals (7-3 record, against a 4-6 record for Las Vegas), who have never failed to make the postseason in their history. Their path to a playoff spot was simple: sweep the doubleheader, or win at least one of the two games, coupled with at least one Rochester loss to clinch. Las Vegas needed either a weekend sweep, or a split combined with Rochester sweeping their doubleheader with Georgia, in order to clinch their first playoff berth in franchise history.
Seals all but punch their playoff ticket with home win in first matchup
Two goals in a shutout third quarter gave the Seals the edge as they took a 14-12 win in the first game at Pechanga Arena on Friday night. Las Vegas opened the game strong, taking a 4-2 lead after the first quarter, but the Seals rallied in the second quarter, knocking out Desert Dogs starting goaltender Alex Buque just before halftime, having tied the game at 8-8. Two unanswered goals from San Diego in the third quarter proved to be the difference, as the teams traded goals in the fourth quarter, with the Seals having a response for every Las Vegas comeback attempt.
Jonathan Donville (3g, 4a) and Chris Cloutier (3g, 1a) each recorded hat tricks for the Desert Dogs (7-10) in the losing effort. Adam Poitras chipped in two goals and two assists, and Ben Soenen had a goal to go with three loose balls and three caused turnovers. Connor Kirst went 9 of 30 on faceoffs in place of the injured Tyrell Hamer-Jackson, and picked up 11 loose balls on the night. Buque and Landon Kells combined to make 47 saves in net. Las Vegas had 51 shots on goal and went 2-for-4 on the power play.
For the Seals (8-9), Zach Currier led the way with nine points (5g, 4a). Ben McIntosh and Noah Armitage each had a hat trick and a four-point night, and Tre Leclaire scored his first goal in over a month. Connor Robinson chipped in with five assists, and Trevor Baptiste went 21 of 30 on faceoffs while picking up nine loose balls. Goaltender Chris Origlieri overcame a shaky start to make 39 saves in the win, shutting out the Desert Dogs in the third quarter. The Seals had 61 shots on goal for the game and scored on their lone power play of the game.
Seals clinch, then match season-high output, but drop back end game
By way of Georgia’s win over Rochester earlier in the day on Saturday, the Seals officially clinched a playoff spot, while the Desert Dogs were eliminated. However, there was still unfinished business as the teams met again that evening at Lee’s Family Forum. The Desert Dogs used an eight-goal second quarter to earn an 18-16 win, splitting the doubleheader. The win is the eighth of the season for Las Vegas (8-10), setting a new franchise record. Surprisingly, the Desert Dogs also finished the 2026 NLL season with home record of 6-3; only Colorado and Saskatchewan had better home records (7-2) than Las Vegas this year.
It was the Desert Dogs’ turn to tee off in the second matchup, as they fired 62 shots on goal for the game. Las Vegas was led by Cloutier (5g, 2a), Donville (1g, 11a), Mitch Jones (3g, 3a), and Poitras (3g). Soenen had a goal, an assist, three loose balls and four caused turnovers. The Desert Dogs also went 4 for 8 on the power play, and Buque and Kells combined to make 34 saves in the win. Two quick goals from Cloutier and Jackson Webster to start the third quarter put Las Vegas up 12-6 and chased Origlieri from the San Diego net in favor of Cameron Dunkerley. Both Seals goaltenders made 22 saves in the loss.
Top scorers for the Seals in the second matchup were McIntosh (4g, 1a), Robinson (3g, 3a), Leclaire (3g, 2a), Chris Kavanagh (1g, 3a), Armitage (4a), and Wesley Berg (4a). Although the Seals did not sweep or get back to .500 on the year (8-10), they claim the #7 seed by virtue of their regular season win over #8 seed Halifax back in Week 13. Their first round opponent will be the #2 seed Colorado Mammoth, with that game taking place on Saturday April 25 at 9:00 pm ET.
