Seawolves swarm Old Glory as Futi scores hat trick

The Seawolves overwhelmed Old Glory on Saturday, scoring a bonus point 41-19 victory at Segra Field. A swarming Seattle defense left DC frustrated with flying winger Lauina Futi notching his second hat trick of the season for the visitors.

There was bad news early for the home side as Kurt Baker limped off with a hamstring injury, replaced by Thretton Palamo. To their credit they responded by taking the offensive. Danny Tusitala’s quick tap put the Seawolves under pressure. Peni Lasaqa then came off his wing to create an overlap with John Rizzo rounding the corner for a try.

Futi made his presence felt when he snatched a loose pass from Rizzo and raced 50 meters to score in the corner. DC nearly had a quick response when Palamo broke through but the big center lost possession going over the line after a desperate tackle from Adriaan Carelse.

Instead it was Futi again breaking free, this time on a switch play with JP Smith. After initially being stopped by Tito Díaz Bonilla, Futi regained his feet and stepped the cover to finish off a superb individual effort. The kick from AJ Alatimu made it 12-7 to the visitors.

Díaz Bonilla and Alatimu exchanged shots at goal but neither kicker found their target. DC couldn’t their their lines and the Seawolves soon had an attacking lineout. The drive was stopped but the defense was caught flat-footed when Carelse ran a short line off Alatimu to score on the stroke of halftime.

Not long into the second half the Seawolves struck for two tries. Futi couldn’t quite corral a grubber ahead from Carelse, but he would get his hat trick anyway at the end of a sweeping attack. A set move from a scrum then saw Martin Iosefo busting two tackles to score a fifth try for the visitors.

Seattle would score again after the hour mark. Lopeti Aisea smashed his way to within a couple meters, and a streaking Ronan Foley split the midfield to crash over. DC finally found a response on a flat missout pass from Gradyn Bowd that sent William Talataina free, the center stepping back inside the last defender to touch down.

Both sides grabbed tries in the dying minutes. Iosefo got his second for Seattle, breaking a tackle after taking a short pass from Tavite Lopeti. A consolation score for the home side went to Doug Fraser in the corner on the end of a wide ball from Talataina.

Old Glory now face a pivotal clash against the Gold in New Orleans on Saturday. It’s a Sunday game at home for the Seawolves against the Utah Warriors.

 

SCORING

DC 19
Tries (3) – J. Rizzo (12′), W. Talataina (73′), D. Fraser (80’+2′)
Cons (2) – J. Díaz Bonilla 2/3 (13′, 74′)
Pens (0) – J. Díaz Bonilla 0/1

SEATTLE 41
Tries (7) – L. Futi 3 (19′, 26′, 50′), A. Carelse (40′), M. Iosefo 2 (56′, 76′), R. Foley (66′)
Cons (3) – A. Alatimu 3/7 (27′, 41′, 77′)
Pens (0) – A. Alatimu 0/1

 

TEAMS

OLD GLORY DC
1 Jack Iscaro (18 Cali Martinez 60′), 2 Nic Souchon (16 Facundo Gattas 55′), 3 Kyle Stewart (17 Quentin Newcomer 54′), 4 Tevita Naqali (20 Collin Grosse 49′), 5 Kyle Baillie, 6 Lautaro Bavaro (19 Langilangi Haupeakui 37′-HT), 7 Niko Jones (21 Alejo Daireaux 49′), 8 Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz (capt.) (19 Langilangi Haupeakui 49′), 9 Danny Tusitala, 10 Joaquín Díaz Bonilla, 11 John Rizzo (23 Doug Fraser 57′), 12 Gradyn Bowd, 13 William Talataina, 14 Peni Lasaqa, 15 Kurt Baker (22 Thretton Palamo 10′)

SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Jake Turnbull (17 Mzamo Majola 51′), 2 Peter Malcolm (16 James Malcolm 51′), 3 Sam Matenga (18 Mason Pedersen 51′), 4 Samu Manoa (19 Rhyno Herbst 47′), 5 Taylor Krumrei (20 Andrew Durutalo 55′), 6 Ben Landry (co-capt.), 7 Charles Elton (co-capt.), 8 Ronan Foley (21 Nakai Penny 68′), 9 JP Smith, 10 AJ Alatimu, 11 Conner Mooneyham, 12 Tavite Lopeti, 13 Martin Iosefo, 14 Lauina Futi (23 Lopeti Aisea 63′), 15 Adriaan Carelse (22 Reid Watkins 68′)

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Luke Rogan (USA)
Assistants: Aaron Davis (USA) & Craig Sakowski (USA)
TMO: Nick Hannon (USA)