First half blitz sees San Diego past Seattle

A five-try first half blitz gave the San Diego Legion a 34-21 win over the Seawolves in sunny Chula Vista on Saturday. Seattle responded with 14 unanswered points in a valiant second half effort but couldn’t come up with enough to recover from the lopsided halftime score.

The Legion came firing out of the blocks with Cecil Afrika injecting pace to take the ball deep into Seattle territory. He was stopped short but soon after Peter Malcolm drove in for the first try. Santiago González Iglesias missed the conversion but it would hardly be noticed.

Seattle’s downfall came early. A slew of penalties resulted in a yellow cards to Lauina Futi. San Diego took full advantage of the overlap as Afrika’s flat pass put Ryan Matyas in for a converted try.

Moments later Karsten Leitner joined Futi in the bin to leave the Seawolves backline two men down. It was easy pickings for the Legion, who spun the ball wide left where Cole Zarcone was waiting unmarked. Another try came after a wild pass from JP Smith in his own end was snatched up by Loots, with Clark providing the scoring pass to Matyas.

By the time Futi and Leitner were finally back on the pitch it was already 24-0. To their credit the visitors did not give up. A period of attack ended with Rhyno Herbst crashing over the line. It was met with an immediate response as Loots broke through and sent Clark clear for the fifth try of the half to leave the score 31-7 at halftime.

The Seawolves came out strongest to start the second half. Good work from the forwards moved them ahead with Samu Manoa barging through a couple defenders. Three passes later and James Malcolm was in, with AJ Alatimu slotting the extras.

Herbst was soon dispatched for a 10-minute spell on the sideline for an indiscretion at the breakdown but this time the Legion could do nothing with the numerical advantage. The scores held until another Seattle surge resulted in a try from Tommy Clark under the sticks.

With time winding down the benches began to empty and tired legs on both sides prevented either side from mounting much offense. González Iglesias landed a late penalty goal to extend San Diego’s lead and end any hopes of a Seattle comeback.

San Diego end their season on the road against Old Glory DC next Saturday. Seattle have two games remaining, both at home, and they will come in a span of four days with NOLA visiting next Sunday and Houston their guests the following Thursday.

 

SCORING

SAN DIEGO 34
Tries – P. Malcolm (2’), R. Matyas 2 (19’, 26’), C. Zarcone (23’), C. Clark (39’)
Cons – S. González Iglesias 3/5 (20’, 27’, 40’)
Pens – S. González Iglesias 1/1 (72’)

SEATTLE 21
Tries – R. Herbst (36’), J. Malcolm (42’), T. Clark (66’)
Cons – A. Alatimu 2/2 (37’, 43’), No kick (66’)
Yellow cards – L. Futi (17’), K. Leitner (21’), R. Herbst (45’)

 

TEAMS

SAN DIEGO LEGION
1 Cronan Gleeson (17 Faka’osi Pifeleti 55’), 2 Peter Malcolm (16 Dean Muir 55’), 3 Paddy Ryan (18 Chris Baumann 55’), 4 Tom Franklin, 5 Chris Turori (20 Aaron Mitchell 62’), 6 Keni Nasoqeqe, 7 Jasa Veremalua, 8 Tevita Tameilau (19 Derrick Broussard 76’), 9 Nate Augspurger (capt.) (21 Ethan McVeigh 55’), 10 Santiago González Iglesias, 11 Cole Zarcone (23 Save Totovosau 71’), 12 Tiaan Loots, 13 Cameron Clark, 14 Ryan Matyas, 15 Cecil Afrika (22 Patrick Madden 69’)

SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Huluholo Mo’ungaloa (16 Mike Shepherd 55’), 2 James Malcolm (17 Henry Hall 76’), 3 Tim Metcher (18 Gavin Prentice 62’), 4 Victor Comptat (20 Ben Landry 46’), 5 Rhyno Herbst, 6 Samu Manoa (21 Tommy Clark 57’), 7 Naulia Dawai, 8 Travis Larsen, 9 Devereaux Ferris (22 Moses Lalasava 46’), 10 AJ Alatimu (capt.), 11 Suliasi Tamaivena, 12 Kieran Joyce (23 Aaron Matthews 52’), 13 Lauina Futi, 14 Karsten Leitner, 15 JP Smith

Not used: 19 Conor McGill

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Scott Green (USA)
Assistants: Austin Reed (USA) & Alexis Alfaro (USA)