Seawolves settle for draw against Warriors

A late penalty goal from Brock Staller gave the Seattle Seawolves a hard-earned 27-all draw against the Utah Warriors on Sunday evening. The Starfire faithful were left to wonder which Seawolves side will show up next week as they appeared to go through several mood swings throughout the match.

It took no time for the Seawolves to strike first. Brad Tucker took the ball clean to set up the lineout drive. Utah slowed it somewhat but left a wide open lane to the line and JP Smith needed no second invitation.

There was a hint of early complacency from the Seattle defense following the score. The Warriors got on the front foot and simple hands found an overlap on the left where Fetu’u Vainikolo was waiting for the final pass from James Semple.

The stunned crowd were silenced again just five minutes later as Utah scored again. A soft penalty gave the Warriors an attacking lineout and when the maul slowed, Josh Whippy charged at the line. Two tacklers were there to meet him but Whippy managed to free his arms and offload to Tim O’Malley, the captain crashing through two more on his way in for a converted try.

It went from bad to worse as Whippy himself capitalized on a telegraphed pass from Staller to sprint away untouched from halfway. O’Malley’s extras made it 19-7 and the Seawolves were in danger of letting the game slip away.

A long discussion followed during the hydration break and that seemed to snap Seattle out of their cold spell. Samu Manoa won a turnover off the kickoff, and though the lineout didn’t quite have the legs, the scrum did as Utah disintegrated to concede the penalty try.

O’Malley and Staller exchanged penalties and then the Seawolves found themselves in another spot of bother. The Warriors piled the pressure on and earned a 5-meter scrum. Seattle won the hit but Johnny Ika immediately looked to the blindside where Vainikolo was waiting, and the Tongan try merchant was too strong for Staller and Smith to corral.

The second half started with Stephan Coetzee in the bin, the hooker dispatched for a cynical penalty just before the break. Despite the advantage, Utah could not find their way through the Seattle defense but neither could the Seawolves find their rhythm.

It wasn’t until well into the final quarter when the scoreboard finally changed. After the forwards went through several phases without cracking the line, Shalom Suniula came flying in from his midfield position to take a short ball from Phil Mack and crash in under the sticks.

Jeff Hassler nearly sparked a try on a counter-attack with his offload sending Mat Turner hurtling through a gap but Ika was there to make the tackle and slow the assault. A penalty would come moments later and with just four minutes to play, Seattle opted to secure the draw with Staller’s boot rather than taking a chance at the lineout.

Each team would gain possession in the final minutes but neither would find any further points. An attacking lineout for Utah was stolen by Taylor Krumrei. The game would end, appropriately, in a stalemate at the breakdown with the referee signaling no-side.

The result leaves an incredible situation in the playoff race as four teams are now level on 53 points. Seattle will have all guns blazing in their home match against Austin on Sunday. Utah bring their season to a close against Houston at Zions Bank Stadium on Saturday night.

SCORING

SEATTLE 27
Tries – J. Smith (3’), Penalty try (22’), S. Suniula (67’)
Cons – B. Staller 2/2 (4’, 67’)
Pens – B. Staller 2/2 (33’, 76’)
Yellow cards – S. Coetzee (40’)

UTAH 27
Tries – F. Vainikolo 2 (8’, 37’), T. O’Malley (13’), J. Whippy (18’)
Cons – T. O’Malley 2/4 (14’, 19’)
Pens – T. O’Malley 1/1 (29’)

TEAMS

SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Djustice Sears-Duru (17 Kellen Gordon 50’), 2 Stephan Coetzee (16 Dan Trierweiler 50’), 3 Tim Metcher (18 Jake Ilnicki HT), 4 Api Naikatini (19 Taylor Krumrei 50’), 5 Jérémy Lenaerts, 6 Brad Tucker, 7 Nakai Penny (16 Dan Trierweiler 40’-50’), 8 Samu Manoa (20 Eric Duechle 50’), 9 JP Smith, 10 Ben Cima (21 Phil Mack 50’), 11 Sequoyah Burke-Combs (23 Jeff Hassler 64’), 12 Shalom Suniula (capt.), 13 George Barton (22 Roland Suniula 50’), 14 Brock Staller, 15 Mat Turner

UTAH WARRIORS
1 Franco van den Berg (17 Huluholo Mo’ungaloa 66’), 2 Jeremy Leber (18 Metai Tu’imoala HT), 3 Angus MacLellan (16 Alex Tucci 76’), 4 Saia Uhila, 5 Matt Jensen, 6 John Cullen (19 Arthur Bergo 62’-67’), 7 Lance Williams (19 Arthur Bergo 73’), 8 Les Soloai (20 Ara Elkington 56’), 9 Johnny Ika, 10 Josh Reeves, 11 Fetu’u Vainikolo, 12 Tim O’Malley (capt.), 13 Josh Whippy, 14 Nolan Tuamoheloa, 15 James Semple

Not used: 21 Jeremy Misailegalu, 22 Josh Anderson, 23 Joseph Nicholls

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Derek Summers (USAR)
Assistants: Robin Kaluzniak (RC) & Marquise Goodwin (USAR)