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The unerring boot of Sam Malcolm helped propel the Arrows past the Seawolves on Saturday evening by a final score of 39-17. It’s just the second time in Seattle franchise history that they have lost two in a row, and the first time dropping three. Toronto’s win was their first ever at Starfire Stadium, accomplished in emphatic fashion.
Malcolm landed his first kick of the day just four minutes in but it would be a fierce battle before more points hit the board. Repeat team offsides cost Manuel Diana 10 minutes in the bin, and the extra space was just enough for Mat Turner to turn the corner and reach the line. Brock Staller’s conversion from a tough angle made it a full seven.
Three points from Malcolm before Diana returned put the Arrows within one and then they pushed ahead on a try from Dan Moor. After several phases Ben LeSage broke through the line and fired a skip pass that found his captain. Moor touched down in the corner, the uprights were bisected by Malcolm’s kick, and Toronto led 13-7 at halftime.
Staller struck first in the second half after some Toronto indiscipline but Malcolm fired back and with interest. One, two, three penalty goals in quick succession had Seattle in a deep hole as JP Smith sent repeat restarts too long. A couple minutes later it was a chasm, Lucas Rumball spinning over after his forward mates had softened up the Seawolves pack.
The Arrows surprisingly opted for a sixth Malcolm penalty with a 19-point lead rather than kick for the corner. Riekert Hattingh went around the blindside from an advancing Seawolves scrum for a consolation score, but Moore would get a second on full-time with Malcolm’s extras giving the fullback 24 points all-told on the evening.
Toronto are the first team to three wins on the season and could face another undefeated side in Rugby ATL next Sunday pending the result of this Sunday’s game in Marietta. Seattle have one less day to prepare for their home game against the New England Free Jacks on Saturday.
SCORING
SEATTLE 17
Tries – M. Turner (25’), R. Hattingh (78’)
Cons – B. Staller 1/1 (26’), S. Dean 1/1 (79’)
Pens – B. Staller 1/1 (43’)
TORONTO 39
Tries – D. Moor 2 (33’, 80’), L. Rumball (60’)
Cons – S. Malcolm 3/3 (34’, 60’, 80’)
Pens – S. Malcolm 6/6 (4’, 29’, 50’, 54’, 57’, 67’)
Yellow cards – M. Diana (22’)
TEAMS
SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Djustice Sears-Duru (17 Kellen Gordon 61’), 2 Stephan Coetzee (16 Mike Shepherd 47’), 3 Jake Ilnicki (18 Tim Metcher 47’), 4 Jérémy Lenaerts (19 Taylor Krumrei 61’), 5 Brad Tucker, 6 Eric Duechle (20 Vili Toluta’u 64’), 7 Nakai Penny, 8 Riekert Hattingh (capt.), 9 JP Smith, 10 Shalom Suniula, 11 Brock Staller (22 David Busby 61’), 12 George Barton (23 Joey Iosefa 57’), 13 Jeff Hassler (21 Scott Dean 72’), 14 Siti Tamaivena, 15 Mat Turner
TORONTO ARROWS
1 Richie Asiata (17 Pat Lynott 72’), 2 Andrew Quattrin (16 Steven Ng 72’), 3 Cole Keith (18 Tyler Rowland 75’), 4 Kolby Francis (19 Tom van Horne 57’), 5 Paul Ciulini, 6 Tomás de la Vega, 7 Lucas Rumball, 8 Manuel Diana (20 Peter Milazzo 67’), 9 Andrew Ferguson (21 Riley DiNardo 72’), 10 Tayler Adams (22 Will Kelly 72’), 11 Leandro Leivas (23 Johnny Sheridan 72’), 12 Guiseppe du Toit, 13 Ben LeSage, 14 Dan Moor (capt.), 15 Sam Malcolm
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Scott Green (USA)
Assistants: Robin Kaluzniak (Canada) & Denny Russell (USA)
