San Diego Seals

The San Diego Seals are an American 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.

San Diego Seals

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	5 (2019, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)
Retired numbers	1 (17)
Website	sealslax.com
Current season

History

On 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

The San Diego Seals playing at the SaskTel Centre in 2019

San Diego Seals roster view talk edit
Active (21-man) roster				Inactive roster		Coaches
Goaltenders 31 Chris Origlieri 30 Mike Poulin Defensemen  2 Drew Belgrave 15 Graydon Bradley 23 Zack Deaken 25 Eli Gobrecht 19 Cam Holding (A)  7 Jesse Gamble 10 Kellen LeClair 91 Danny Logan  4 Kyle Rubisch 20 Matt Wright		Forwards 21 Ryan Benesch 14 Wesley Berg (C) 10 Robert Hellyer 47 Kyle Jackson 90 Ben McIntosh 16 Adam Noakes Transition  9 Trevor Baptiste 77 Zach Currier 33 Tre Leclaire		Practice Squad 51 Cam Aacchione 18 Trent DiCicco 88 Jake Govett 11 Cameron Lumb 44 Jacob Power 26 Patrick Shoemay 13 Justin Sykes 12 Matt Sykes 92 Ty Thompson 32 Robbie Turpin Restricted list 83 Austin Staats		Head Coach Patrick Merrill Assistant Coaches Jordan Hall Cam Woods Legend * Suspended list (C) Captain (A) Alternate captain updated 2024-12-16 NLL Transactions

All-time record

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	—
2025	8th	9–9	6–3	3–6	215	210	5,229	L, 4–5, BUF	—	—
Total	6 seasons	62–40	35–16	27–24	1,213	1,112	5,571	5 Appearances, 0 Championships

Playoff results

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
2025	Quarterfinals	San Diego 4	Buffalo 5

Awards and honors

Year	Player	Award
2019	Austin Staats	Rookie of the Year

Retired numbers

No.	Player	Date	Tenure
17[4]	Brodie Merrill	December 9, 2023	2019-24

Draft history

NLL Entry Draft

First 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

• 2024 from Panther City Lacrosse Club: Justin Sykes (11th overall); Callum Crawford (25th overall)

NLL Entry Draft

• 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

#	Name	Term	Regular Season				Playoffs
			GC	W	L	W%	GC	W	L	W%
1	Patrick Merrill	2019–	102	62	40	.609	10	3	7	.300

Media

In 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

1. League was separated into "Divisions" until 2022, called "Conferences" in 2022 and 2023, system was dissolved in 2024.