Frank Scigliano becomes 24th goalie to allow four or fewer
Frank Scigliano (Photo: Mike McGinnis)
There have been 2,121 regular season games played in the National Lacrosse League going back to the league’s first-ever contest between the Philadelphia Wings and New Jersey Saints on Saturday, January 10, 1987.
That’s a lot of lacrosse, which makes what happened this past Saturday night even more special, rare and memorable.
San Diego Seals’ starting stopper Frank Scigliano did something that only 23 other goalies over the league’s lengthy lineage have done - let in four or fewer goals in a single regular season game.
The Seals’ historically significant 13-4 win over the Colorado Mammoth is only the 30th time in NLL (MILL or Eagle Pro too) history a team has accomplished that four-or-less feat, putting Scigliano in a significantly selective club.
“Frankie weathered the storm in the first quarter,” said Seals’ Head Coach, Pat Merrill, in his post-game comments after San Diego secured a victory on Saturday against the Mammoth. “They were aggressive, he made some big stops and really gave our offense the confidence to play our game. Frankie’s the backbone of this team and it’s nice to see him get a big win on the road.”
Of those 24 goalies over the NLL’s 35 seasons to allow fewer than five finishes in a regular season game, Toronto Rock legend, Bob Watson, did it three times. Watson is currently Scigliano’s Goalie Coach in San Diego.
And as impressive as Watson’s three stingy starts with the Rock were, the still-active Matt Vinc has done the same five times. In fact, Vinc is the only goalie to ever allow just two goals in a regular season start, doing that with the Rochester Knighthawks in 2015 in the team’s 10-2 win over the Minnesota Swarm.
Although we’ve only reviewed regular season records here, Watson & the Rock did once allow just two goalies against in the playoffs, a dominating 13-2 victory over the Wings in the Cup semifinals.
NLL regular season games with four goals allowed or less (since 1987)
1990
Dwight Maetche: Philadelphia Wings 9-4 New York Saints
1992
Ted Sawicki: Detroit Turbos 13-3 Pittsburgh Bulls
1994
Sal LoCascio: New York Saints 13-4 Philadelphia Wings
1996
Marty O’Neill: Boston Blazers 17-4 Charlotte Cobras
2001
Dallas Eliuk: Philadelphia Wings 9-4 Albany Attack
Bob Watson: Toronto Rock 7-4 Albany Attack
Bob Watson: Toronto Rock 11-4 Rochester Knighthawks
2003
Steve Dietrich: Buffalo Bandits 10-4 New Jersey Storm
2004
Mike Miron: Arizona Sting 14-4 Rochester Knighthawks
Curtis Palidwor: Calgary Roughnecks 14-4 Arizona Sting
2007
Rob Blasdell: Arizona Sting 11-4 Portland Lumberjax
2008
Nick Patterson: Minnesota Swarm 11-4 Toronto Rock
Pat O’Toole: Rochester Knighthawks 11-4 Toronto Rock
Gee Nash: Colorado Mammoth 15-4 Edmonton Rush
2009
Kenny Montour: Buffalo Bandits 14-4 Portland Lumberjax
Anthony Cosmo: Boston Blazers 8-4 Philadelphia Wings
2010
Bob Watson: Toronto Rock 17-3 Rochester Knighthawks
Matt Vinc: Orlando Titans 9-4 Rochester Knighthawks
2014
Matt Vinc: Rochester Knighthawks 8-4 Buffalo Bandits
2015
Matt Vinc: Rochester Knighthawks 10-2 Minnesota Swarm
Aaron Bold: Edmonton Rush 16-3 Rochester Knighthawks
Brandon Miller: Toronto Rock 16-4 Minnesota Swarm
2016
Matt Vinc: Rochester Knighthawks 11-4 Georgia Swarm
2019
Matt Vinc: Buffalo Bandits 13-4 Rochester Knighthawks
Steve Fryer: Colorado Mammoth 14-4 Vancouver Warriors
2020
Warren Hill: Halifax Thunderbirds 12-4 New York Riptide
Zach Higgins: Philadelphia Wings 12-4 Rochester Knighthawks
Evan Kirk: Saskatchewan Rush 11-4 New York Riptide
Mike Poulin: Georgia Swarm 14-4 Rochester Knighthawks
2022
Frank Scigliano: San Diego Seals 13-4 Colorado Mammoth