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The Utah Warriors returned to winning ways on Saturday evening as they downed the Houston SaberCats 50-43 at Zions Bank Stadium. It was non-stop action in what was an 80-minute thriller. Both teams found holes in the defense and both also constructed tries through their forwards.
Houston had enjoyed the better of early play. In the 2nd minute inside center Sam Windsor blocked an attempted kick and chase. Windsor gathered the bounce and scored to score after less than 70 seconds of play. The second saw Argentine prop Nicolás Solveyra breaking like a center before linking with scrumhalf Nick Boyer for the score.
The Warriors’ opening try was in the 6th minute. Hagen Schulte threw a long pass to Joseph Mano on the left wing. The pin-point effort and conversion made it 12-7.
Man of the match Mike Te’o had two try assists and also touched down for two of his own. His first saw him scoring near the right wing while his second was a neat step to avoid two tacklers and score. His second came after a Windsor penalty goal and saw the Warriors opening up a 21-15 lead.
Three tries came before halftime. Mika Kruse finished in the right corner for Utah, followed by a show-and-go from Houston’s Robbie Povey. Michael Baska finished off a Te’o break to make it 33-22.
Utah continued where they left off early in the second half. Kruse grabbed his second try of the match, but Houston responded with back-to-back tries. Povey cut through for his second, and then Adriaan Booysen muscled through traffic to touch down.
The Warriors responded with a try to Thomas Tu’avao from a rolling maul. Hagen Schulte followed it up with a penalty which took Utah to the half-century.
Schulte missed a late penalty chance before Povey grabbed a hat-trick from a fortuitous loose ball to set up the grand stand finish.
The SaberCats continued to look for one final score. Utah held firm, however, and when they turned over the ball Te’o ran it dead to bring the game to its conclusion.
Both the Warriors and SaberCats have a bye next weekend with returns scheduled for May 8. Houston travel to New Orleans while Utah will have home advantage against Old Glory DC.
SCORING
UTAH 50
Tries – J. Mano (7′), M. Te’o 2 (12′, 19′), M. Kruse 2 (24′, 43′), M. Baska (35′), T. Tu’avao (60′)
Cons – H. Schulte 6/7 (8′, 13′, 20′, 36′, 44′, 61′)
Pens – H. Schulte 1/2 (69′)
HOUSTON 43
Tries – S. Windsor (1′), N. Boyer (4′), R. Povey 3 (30′, 46′, 74′), A. Booysen (57′)
Cons – S. Windsor 4/5 (31′, 47′, 58′, 74′), No kick (4′)
Pens – S. Windsor 1/1 (15′)
TEAMS
UTAH WARRIORS
1 Olive Kilifi (17 Alex Tucci 74′), 2 Veremalua Vugakoto (16 Chad Gough 58′), 3 Angus MacLellan (18 Paul Mullen 58′), 4 Aston Fortuin, 5 Matt Jensen (20 Saia Uhila 58′), 6 Thomas Tu’avao (22 Derek Ellingson 66′), 7 Bailey Wilson (capt.) (19 Mike Gieselman 58′), 8 Jurie van Vuuren, 9 Michael Baska (21 Danny Christensen 72′), 10 Hagen Schulte, 11 Joseph Mano, 12 Calvin Whiting, 13 Tyler Fisher, 14 Mika Kruse (23 James Vaifale 70′), 15 Mike Te’o
HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Nicolás Solveyra (18 Nik Hildebrand 72′), 2 Tiaan Erasmus, 3 Charlie Connolly (16 Nikoloz Khatiashvili 9′), 4 Kody O’Neil, 5 Lucas Albornoz (19 Van Stewart 70′), 6 Apisai Tauyavuca (20 Adriaan Booysen HT), 7 Cecil Garber, 8 Diego Magno, 9 Nick Boyer, 10 Robbie Povey, 11 Zack Godfrey (23 Joe Thomas 26′), 12 Sam Windsor (capt.), 13 Taylor Howden (22 Max Tacket 63′), 14 Jake Hidalgo, 15 Paula Balekana
Not used: 17 Patrick Donovan, 21 Zachary Short
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
Assistants: Kahlil Harrison (USA) & Niku Kruger (USA)
