Thunderbirds clinch playoff berth with win over Seals
Apr 5, 2025
(HALIFAX, NS) April 5, 2025 -- The Halifax Thunderbirds took care of business on home floor on Saturday night, beating the San Diego Seals 13-10 at Scotiabank Centre.
Clarke Petterson had a seven-point night to lead Halifax in scoring on the night. Randy Staats' four-goal, six-point night was also crucial in the victory.
Dawson Theede had another pair of goals while Thomas Hoggarth (2G, 2A), Mike Robinson (1G, 2A), and Cody Jamieson (1G, 2A) all had strong nights.
Drew Hutchison earned the victory after coming into the game in relief. He made 39 saves while only allowing five goals in nearly 50 minutes of work.
The visitors got off to a good start early, with Danny Logan scooping a loose ball for a transition goal 11 seconds in. Wes Berg followed that with another to put San Diego ahead 2-0 in the opening two minutes. But Halifax started to climb back. Staats scored his first on the power play, shooting around a defender and in to get the Thunderbirds on the board.
Staats' dominant first half continued, with the forward scooping up a ball, swimming a double team, and setting up Hoggarth, who pinged a shot off the post and in. Ben McIntosh got another goal for the visitors to maintain San Diego's lead.
Ryan Benesch and Zach Currier continued the first-quarter burst for the Seals, as they were up 5-2 late in the opening frame until Staats got his second goal off a cross-crease feed to pull Halifax within a pair after the opening 15 minutes of play.
Hutchison entered the game after the fifth Seals goal and would see the rest of the game out in the cage for the Thunderbirds.
But Halifax found a way to flip the script in the second quarter, off the strength of a four-goal run in the middle portion of the stanza. Staats got his hat-trick goal to make it a one-goal deficit for Halifax, but Wes Berg had a quick answer on the power play. Thankfully for the Thunderbirds, Robinson hammered a shot home off that ensuing draw to keep it a 6-5 game. At the 9:41 mark, Theede got underneath his defender and used a crease dive for the finish to tie things up.
Theede made it two straight goals, as he shrugged off multiple defenders and threw a scoop shot while falling. That found twine, and Halifax jumped ahead for the first time in the game. A minute after that goal, it was Hoggarth with his second, as he scored on a spinning effort while falling near the crease. That brought the Halifax faithful in The Nest to its feet.
Currier scored his second, but Staats scored a bouncer on the run at the end of the second to put Halifax up 9-7 at the half.
The third quarter took a much slower pace in terms of goals. Jamieson got one for Halifax just over a minute into the third, while McIntosh scored at the eight-minute mark. But Halifax continued to hold their 10-8 advantage into the fourth.
Goals continued to come at a premium to open the final frame. The Thunderbirds were forced to kill off some crucial penalties, but after exiting the box on a minor, Curtis Romanchych was able to cut underneath a seal by Johnny Pearson and fire a bouncer home to get his first career NLL goal -- and a massive insurance goal.
Rob Hellyer got that goal back for San Diego with just under six minutes left in regulation, but Halifax got a pair of clutch goals from key players in the final minutes to seal the game. Petterson stripped Currier on the clear in the offensive zone, leading to a wide-open look one-on-one with Chris Origlieri. The righty restored the three-goal lead for the Thunderbirds with 2:20 to play.
Tyson Bell put the game to bed with an empty-netter just a minute later.
With the victory, Halifax moved to 10-6 on the season, good for third overall in the NLL standings. The victory, along with a Colorado loss to Buffalo, clinched a playoff spot for the Thunderbirds in the 2025 NLL Playoffs.
The team will be on the road for their final two games of the regular season. They are back in action Apr 12 against Buffalo before making the trip to Toronto to wrap the season series with the Rock on Apr 18.