# 2023 Las Vegas Desert Dogs season

The Las Vegas Desert Dogs are a lacrosse team based in Las Vegas, Nevada playing in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The 2023 season was the inaugural season for the franchise and played their home games in the Michelob Ultra Arena. They are owned by Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai, former NHL player Wayne Gretzky, former NBA player Steve Nash and pro golfer Dustin Johnson. All games were televised on MyLVTV and streamed on ESPN+.
The head coach and general manager of the Desert Dogs is Shawn Williams. They hired Ken Millin as offensive coordinator and Rob Williams as defensive coordinator.

## Final standings

Reference:
East Conference :
| P | Team | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | GF | GA | Diff | GF/GP | GA/GP |
| 1 | Buffalo Bandits – xyz | 18 | 14 | 4 | .778 | 0.0 | 7–2 | 7–2 | 215 | 191 | +24 | 11.94 | 10.61 |
| 2 | Toronto Rock – x | 18 | 13 | 5 | .722 | 1.0 | 8–1 | 5–4 | 234 | 164 | +70 | 13.00 | 9.11 |
| 3 | Halifax Thunderbirds – x | 18 | 10 | 8 | .556 | 4.0 | 5–4 | 5–4 | 238 | 210 | +28 | 13.22 | 11.67 |
| 4 | Rochester Knighthawks – x | 18 | 10 | 8 | .556 | 4.0 | 6–3 | 4–5 | 218 | 214 | +4 | 12.11 | 11.89 |
| 5 | Philadelphia Wings | 18 | 9 | 9 | .500 | 5.0 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 200 | 211 | −11 | 11.11 | 11.72 |
| 6 | Georgia Swarm | 18 | 8 | 10 | .444 | 6.0 | 3–6 | 5–4 | 219 | 207 | +12 | 12.17 | 11.50 |
| 7 | New York Riptide | 18 | 5 | 13 | .278 | 9.0 | 3–6 | 2–7 | 201 | 243 | −42 | 11.17 | 13.50 |
| 8 | Albany FireWolves | 18 | 3 | 15 | .167 | 11.0 | 0–9 | 3–6 | 167 | 233 | −66 | 9.28 | 12.94 |
West Conference :
| P | Team | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | GF | GA | Diff | GF/GP | GA/GP |
| 1 | San Diego Seals – xy | 18 | 14 | 4 | .778 | 0.0 | 7–2 | 7–2 | 240 | 193 | +47 | 13.33 | 10.72 |
| 2 | Calgary Roughnecks – x | 18 | 13 | 5 | .722 | 1.0 | 7–2 | 6–3 | 218 | 167 | +51 | 12.11 | 9.28 |
| 3 | Panther City Lacrosse Club – x | 18 | 10 | 8 | .556 | 4.0 | 6–3 | 4–5 | 204 | 193 | +11 | 11.33 | 10.72 |
| 4 | Colorado Mammoth – x | 18 | 9 | 9 | .500 | 5.0 | 7–2 | 2–7 | 190 | 208 | −18 | 10.56 | 11.56 |
| 5 | Saskatchewan Rush | 18 | 8 | 10 | .444 | 6.0 | 5–4 | 3–6 | 204 | 212 | −8 | 11.33 | 11.78 |
| 6 | Las Vegas Desert Dogs | 18 | 5 | 13 | .278 | 9.0 | 4–5 | 1–8 | 179 | 222 | −43 | 9.94 | 12.33 |
| 7 | Vancouver Warriors | 18 | 4 | 14 | .222 | 10.0 | 2–7 | 2–7 | 188 | 247 | −59 | 10.44 | 13.72 |

### Game log

| Game | Date | Opponent | Location | Score | Attendance | Record |
| 1 | December 9, 2022 | @ Panther City Lacrosse Club | Dickies Arena | L 11–13 | 4,184 | 0–1 |
| 2 | December 16, 2022 | Panther City Lacrosse Club | Michelob Ultra Arena | L 3–9 | 7,072 | 0–2 |
| 3 | January 6, 2023 | Philadelphia Wings (2018-) | Michelob Ultra Arena | L 9–14 | 4,809 | 0–3 |
| 4 | January 14, 2023 | @ Vancouver Warriors | Rogers Arena | L 16–19 | 8,483 | 0–4 |
| 5 | January 20, 2023 | Vancouver Warriors | Michelob Ultra Arena | W 15–14 | 5,057 | 1–4 |
| 6 | January 28, 2023 | @ Saskatchewan Rush | SaskTel Centre | L 10–15 | 9,335 | 1–5 |
| 7 | February 4, 2023 | Colorado Mammoth | Michelob Ultra Arena | W 13–8 | 6,053 | 2–5 |
| 8 | February 18, 2023 | @ Albany FireWolves | MVP Arena | W 12–10 | 3,520 | 3–5 |
| 9 | February 24, 2023 | Calgary Roughnecks | Michelob Ultra Arena | W 11–9 | 4,814 | 4–5 |
| 10 | March 4, 2023 | @ San Diego Seals | Snapdragon Stadium | L 12–15 | 8,443 | 4–6 |
| 11 | March 11, 2023 | Vancouver Warriors | Michelob Ultra Arena | L 5–14 | 7,914 | 4–7 |
| 12 | March 18, 2023 | @ Panther City Lacrosse Club | Dickies Arena | L 8–11 | 2,238 | 4–8 |
| 13 | March 25, 2023 | Rochester Knighthawks | Michelob Ultra Arena | W 12–7 | 5,430 | 5–8 |
| 14 | March 31, 2023 | @ Colorado Mammoth | Ball Arena | L 9–11 | 9,798 | 5–9 |
| 15 | April 8, 2023 | San Diego Seals | Michelob Ultra Arena | L 10–14 | 5,540 | 5–10 |
| 16 | April 14, 2023 | @ Calgary Roughnecks | Scotiabank Saddledome | L 7–12 | 12,998 | 5–11 |
| 17 | April 22, 2023 | @ San Diego Seals | Pechanga Arena | L 4–14 | 4,092 | 5–12 |
| 18 | April 29, 2023 | Saskatchewan Rush | Michelob Ultra Arena | L 12–13 | 6,947 | 5–13 |

## Roster
### Expansion Draft

The expansion draft for the Las Vegas Desert Dogs was held on July 7, 2022. The Desert Dogs selected:
| Round | Player | Former Team |
| 1 | Jackson Nishimura | Albany FireWolves |
| 2 | Connor Fields | Buffalo Bandits |
| 3 | Riley Hutchcraft | Toronto Rock |
| 4 | John Wagner | Rochester Knighthawks |
| 5 | Landon Kells | Calgary Roughnecks |
| 6 | Brett McIntyre | Colorado Mammoth |
| 7 | Connor Kirst | Georgia Swarm |
| 8 | James Barclay | Halifax Thunderbirds |
| 9 | Ty Thompson | New York Riptide |
| 10 | Jack Hannah | Panther City LC |
| 11 | Jackson Suboch | Philadelphia Wings |
| 12 | Frank Scigliano | San Diego Seals |
| 13 | Jeff Cornwall | Saskatchewan Rush |
| 14 | Tyson Roe | Vancouver Warriors |
The following trades were made immediately following the draft:
* Las Vegas traded Riley Hutchcraft, Connor Fields and their 1st round Draft Pick (1st overall) in the 2022 Entry Draft to Rochester for Charlie Bertrand and their 1st round pick (2nd overall), 4th round pick (74th overall), 6th round pick (91st overall) in the 2022 Entry Draft and their 1st round selection in the 2023 Entry Draft
* Las Vegas traded Brett McIntyre back to Colorado for Sam Firth and Erik Turner
* Las Vegas traded Frank Scigliano back to San Diego for Mark Glicini, Brandon Clelland, their 2nd round pick (26th overall) in the 2022 Entry Draft and their 3rd round pick in the 2023 Entry Draft
* Las Vegas traded Jeff Cornwall to Calgary for Marshal King and their 1st round pick (18th overall) in the 2022 Entry Draft

### Entry Draft

The 2022 NLL Entry Draft took place on September 10, 2022. The Las Vegas Desert Dogs selected:
| Round | Overall | Player | Position | College/Club |
| 1 | 2 | Dylan Watson | F | Orangeville Northmen – Jacksonville University |
| 1 | 16 | Jake Saunders | D | Brooklin Lacrosse Club – University of Richmond |
| 2 | 24 | Griffin Hall | D | Victoria Shamrocks |
| 2 | 26 | Sean Westley | F | Brooklin Lacrosse Club – St. Bonaventure University |
| 3 | 44 | Zach Cole | D | St. Joseph’s University |
| 4 | 59 | Colin Jeffrey | G | Victoria Shamrocks – University of Montevallo |
| 4 | 74 | Chris Merle | D | Stony Brook University |
| 5 | 75 | Peytin Wallace | D | Whitby Jr A |
| 6 | 90 | Tyler Ewen | F | Burnaby – Queens University of Charlotte |
| 6 | 91 | Stryker Roloff | D | Langley Jr A |