It’s been almost four months since the San Diego Seals selected forward Austin Staats first overall in the 2018 NLL Entry Draft. The 20-year-old from Six Nations, ON would finally get the change to introduce the game he loves to a completely new audience America’s Finest City.

Starting the season with a three-game road trip, Staats waited patiently for the team to make its long-awaited debut in front of the home crowd.

More than 11,000 San Diegans were in their seats at Pechanga Arena San Diego on Saturday night to see the boys in purple and gold play on their home-turf for the first time. In a back-and-forth game, the Seals managed to bury two late goals to get the win, 12-10. The final tally came from Staats, who turned to the crowd to celebrate.

“I grabbed the Seal on the front of my jersey in the fourth quarter to show the fans how much I respected them and enjoyed their presence,” said Staats. “It was pretty cool, and it was the loudest arena that I have been to so far.”

The Seals take on the Calgary Roughnecks this Fri. Jan. 18 at 7:00pm PST at Pechanga Arena San Diego. Reserve your seats today at SealsLax.com.