Seawolves fall to shorthanded Legion in Seattle

The Seattle Seawolves slumped to a 28-22 defeat against a shorthanded San Diego Legion that played much of the game with only 14 men after a first half red card to Keni Nasoqeqe. In fact the Legion were forced to defend with only 13 for large stretches but Seattle failed to capitalise in front of a sellout crowd at Starfire Stadium.

Oli Kilifi tried to set the tone for the Seawolves with a huge tackle on Ryan Matyas straight from the kickoff, but it was the Legion who quickly found their feet. A high ball from Joe Pietersen put Ben Cima under pressure and with Psalm Wooching fast approaching and the sun in his eyes, it was the San Diego flanker who won the aerial battle.

From the ensuing attack a high tackle penalty offered Pietersen an easy shot at goal, but the captain turned it down for a kick to the corner instead. The lineout drive was initially slowed but Dean Muir peeled around the blinside and rolled out of the tackle to touch the ball down. Pietersen nailed the sideline conversion and the Legion were seven up.

With San Diego under pressure in their own end, Nate Augspurger somehow slipped through from behind his own tryline and put Matyas into the clear down the right sideline. A miracle tackle from Brad Tucker saved the try, but Seattle were unable to clear their lines and from a ruck close to the line Louis Stanfill showed his experience to dot the ball down on the base of the post-pad for a cheeky try.

A Ben Cima line break was called back for obstruction and Pietersen this time accepted the three points. Now 17-0 the situation was very bad for Seattle, but they managed to finally get on the scoreboard at the half-hour mark. Stephan Coetzee took a page from Muir’s book and broke off a maul, reaching out to make the line. Brock Staller’s conversion skimmed the upright as the flags stayed down.

Discipline was becoming an issue for the Legion and soon the referee had seen enough, sending Jasa Veremalua to the bin for a breakdown infringement. Despite the disadvantage San Diego went on attack but just as it seemed they would score before the break, it was instead disaster as Nasoqeqe was dispatched for a shoulder-to-head clearout.

San Diego were now down to 13 but Seattle still couldn’t control possession. Instead Pietersen just missed with a long-range drop goal attempt, but it was on advantage and he would get another crack at the posts from the tee. This time he made no mistake and left the score 20-5 as the players headed inside.

The Seawolves came out with more resolve in the second half and quickly exploited the overlap, but the pass from Sequoyah Burke-Combs to JP Smith was too high with nothing but green in front of the scrumhalf. All momentum was lost when Augspurger broke clear and chipped ahead. Cam Polson’s tackle was late and in clear view of the referee, who had no hesitation in sending the Canadian to the sidelines as Pietersen grabbed another three.

Penalties continued to mount despite with repeat warnings from the referee falling on deaf ears. Brad Tucker sent Pietersen bowling backwards on a fearsome charge that would result in San Diego’s captain leaving the field, and it took Jordan Manihera’s high challenge to stop his fellow New Zealander. That earned the Legion another card and just as Veremalua had returned they were back to 13 defenders.

Again Seattle found the space outsize but Matyas got under Peter Tiberio to hold it up in-goal. At last the try would come in the corner. Ben Cima’s cross-kick found Shalom Suniula and though he was brought down short, the ball came out quickly for Coetzee to cross for a double in the corner.

Psalm Wooching’s offload drifted forward to spare Seattle what would have been a try for replacement Tai Enosa. Phil Mack entered the fray for the Seawolves and immediately sparked progress, with half-breaks from William Rasileka and Suniula ending in a try for Jérémy Lenaerts. Staller’s kicking woes continued as the conversion veered left, leading it a two-score game.

The try would be erased in stunning fashion from the restart. Seattle made a hash of the kick and the Augspurger disrupted Mack’s pass, snatching up the loose ball and handing it to Veremalua for the easiest of run-ins. Audsley couldn’t add the extras but the Seawolves were now in dire straits.

A reply would come quickly. Tucker put a perfectly-weighted grubber in behind the defense for Staller to run onto. The ball was recycled and Mat Turner sliced back across the grain to touch down under the posts. Ben Cima took over the kicking duties and put over the easy two to close the gap to six.

There would be no coming back, however. Joey Iosefa’s barreling run up the middle was followed by two Seattle players going off their feet in the clearout, giving Dylan Audsley a shot at goal. It would be unsuccessful but took valuable time off the clock. The Seawolves could not regain possession and the Legion pack shifted into cruise control, sealing the first ever loss for Seattle at Starfire Stadium.

SCORING

SEATTLE 22
Tries – S. Coetzee 2 (30’, 56’), J. Lenaerts (64’), M. Turner (70’)
Cons – B. Staller 0/3, B. Cima 1/1 (71’)
Yellow cards – C. Polson (44’)

SAN DIEGO 28
Tries – D. Muir (6’), L. Stanfill (19’), J. Veremalua (67’)
Cons – J. Pietersen 2/2 (7’, 20’), D. Audsley 0/1
Pens – J. Pietersen 3/3 (26’, 40’, 45’), D. Audsley 0/2
Drop goals – J. Pietersen 0/1
Yellow cards – J. Veremalua (35’), J. Manihera (49’)
Red cards – K. Nasoqeqe (39’)

TEAMS

SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Olive Kilifi (17 Kellen Gordon 49’), 2 Stephan Coetzee, 3 Tim Metcher (18 John Hayden 49’-66’), 4 Taylor Krumrei (19 Jérémy Lenaerts 59’), 5 Brad Tucker, 6 Cam Polson (20 Aladdin Schirmer 58’), 7 Eric Duechle, 8 Riekert Hattingh, 9 JP Smith (21 Phil Mack 62’), 10 Ben Cima, 11 Sequoyah Burke-Combs (23 Mat Turner 58’), 12 Shalom Suniula (capt.), 13 William Rasileka, 14 Brock Staller, 15 Peter Tiberio (22 Joey Iosefa 62’)

Not used: 16 Dan Trierweiler

SAN DIEGO LEGION
1 Faka’osi Pifeleti (17 Nathan Sylvia 47’), 2 Dean Muir (16 Kapeli Pifeleti 58’), 3 Paddy Ryan (18 Aaron Mitchell 72’), 4 Louis Stanfill (19 Siaosi Mahoni 78’), 5 Keni Nasoqeqe, 6 Jasa Veremalua, 7 Psalm Wooching, 8 Jordan Manihera (20 Drew Gaffney 72’), 9 Nate Augspurger, 10 Joe Pietersen (capt.) (22 Tai Enosa 49’), 11 Ryan Matyas (21 Nick Boyer 69’), 12 JP du Plessis, 13 Dylan Audsley, 14 Conor Kearns, 15 Mike Te’o

Not used: 23 Kyle Rogers

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Elgan Williams (WRU)
Assistants: Robin Kaluzniak (RC) & Lee Bryant (USAR)