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Game Preview - Halifax vs San Diego

Apr 4, 2025

The Halifax Thunderbirds return home on Saturday night as they welcome the San Diego Seals to Scotiabank Centre. Opening face-off is at 7:00 p.m. AT. 

Head to Head

The Seals and Thunderbirds have matched up twice all-time, with each holding a victory at home. During their inaugural season, Halifax captured the first-ever victory against San Diego at home, taking an 8-5 victory in The Nest in 2020. 

With the new unified standings, the teams met up again last year on the West Coast, where the Seals got a 12-8 victory last March. 

Cody Jamieson leads the Thunderbirds over those two games with two goals and six points while Clarke Petterson has a pair of goals and five points of his own. 

Jake Withers also has three assists over the pair of contests while going 65 percent on face-offs. 

Scouting the Thunderbirds

The Thunderbirds found some late heroics in Georgia last weekend, but they ultimately dropped their last matchup in overtime. 

The righty pairing of Randy Staats (22G, 58A) and Clarke Petterson (26G, 52A) continued to have their strong production, but it was the return of Dawson Theede (24G, 15A) which proved the most important on the day for Halifax. The lefty finished with four goals and six points – his final tally of the night being the game-tying goal with under five seconds in regulation.

Thomas Hoggarth (26G, 23A), Mike Robinson (17G, 25A), and Jason Knox (12G, 25A), will also have to provide the Thunderbirds with secondary scoring to help them during this crucial final run to the playoffs. 

Ryan Terefenko (17G, 18A) and Jake Withers continued their incredible two-way play this year. Terefenko had a big goal in the second half against Georgia while Withers chipped in a goal of his own as well as 21 loose balls and 25 face-off wins. 

Warren Hill had a great bounce-back performance last weekend, stopping 43 shots. However, he was on the wrong side of the final score. The Halifax starter has an 11.17 goals-against average and a .769 save percentage in 15 games this season. 

Scouting the Seals

San Diego boasts a veteran offensive lineup with some star names headlining it. 

Rob Hellyer (27G, 54A) leads the team in scoring, with captain Wes Berg (42G, 35A) not trailing far behind. Former Thunderbird Ryan Benesch (22G, 35A) has anchored the Seals’ left side this season, while fellow free-agent acquisition Ben McIntosh (19G, 35A) has bolstered the righties. 

One of the biggest x-factors for San Diego this year has been the newly acquired Zach Currier (14G, 24A). Already one of the biggest transition threats in the game, Currier has also spent most of the season playing out the front gate, giving the Seals added punch offensively. 

Tre Leclaire (13G, 10A), Dylan Watson (9G, 6A), and Jake Govett (8G, 2A) have also provided depth scoring this year. 

Kyle Rubisch and Cam Holding lead the Seals’ defence, but Danny Logan has become a defensive stalwart for the Seals over the past few seasons. The American is becoming one of the best defenders in the NLL. Vets in Eli Gobrecht, James Barclay, Jesse Gamble, and Kellen LeClair help to bolster this unit out of the back door. 

Chris Origlieri will man the crease for San Diego. The fourth-year man holds an 11.51 GAA and a .764 SV% so far this year. 

Milestone Watch

  • Cody Jamieson needs seven points to become the 17th player in NLL history to reach 1,000 career points
  • Jake Withers needs eight loose balls to reach 1,400 for his career
  • Jake Withers needs 18 face-off wins to surpass Jamie Hanford for fourth all-time in NLL history (2,091)
  • Randy Staats needs nine assists to reach 400 for his career
  • Clarke Petterson needs 10 goals to reach 150 for his career
  • Thomas Hoggarth needs nine loose balls to reach 400 for his career
  • Jason Knox needs seven loose balls to reach 100 for his career

Broadcast Info

Fans can tune into the action on Saturday night on TSN+ and NLL+ in Canada and ESPN+ in the United States. 

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