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A try from Tavite Lopeti with just a minute left on the clock gave the Seawolves a 25-19 win over the Legion at Starfire Stadium on Saturday night. Played in damp and icy cold conditions, it was a back-and-forth affair largely dominated by kicking that very nearly went San Diego’s way despite the visitors playing 30 minutes with 14 men on the pitch.
Josh Henderson had a chance to open the scoring on a penalty attempt but his kick was astray and the flags stayed down. Instead it was Mack Mason who did the honors for Seattle, landing two kicks and then a third after Blair Cowan was shown yellow for what the referee deemed to be illegal play at a ruck.
Injuries had knocked out two players by the time Josh Henderson got the Legion on the board just after the hydration break. Seattle hooker Peter Malcolm failed an HIA and San Diego flanker Christian Poidevin hobbled off with a lower leg problem. Henderson landed a second and then Seawolves lock Mahonri Ngakuru left the field with an upper body complaint. Jean Droste, who had been a late addition to the lineup for Huw Taylor, moved to lock with Reid Davis coming in on debut to play blindside flanker.
Mason pushed the Seawolves to six points ahead but it was chopped back to three by Henderson just moments later. With time expired in the half the opportunity was there for Henderson to make it all even it but captain Cowan pointed to the corner instead. The gamble didn’t pay off as a knock-on ended the attack and left it 12-9 to the home side after 40 minutes.
What looked to be a pivotal moment came at the 52 minute mark when Payton Telea-Ilalio was sent from the field for a head-high hit on Joe Taufete’e. Mason immediately took three points with the boot and then landed another shortly after to make it 18-9 and San Diego were in danger of slipping away.
Instead the Legion revived their hopes with slick hands to make good ground down the left side. After the forwards committed the bulk of the defense, a darting outside break from Henderson saw the flyhalf bounce off the deck and over the line to score the first try of the game, with his conversion making it a two-point game at the hour mark.
A remarkable scrum penalty won against the head with only seven in the scrum gave Henderson a chance to put his team ahead from just inside his own half. He delivered to give the Legion their first lead of the game. It wasn’t to be, however, as Lopeti snagged a deflected ball from the air and pinned his ears back to race 25 meters untouched to score. Mason converted and the referee blew his whistle for full-time.
Seattle stay at home for a first ever meeting with the Miami Sharks next Saturday. San Diego will take an extra day to rest and review before squaring off against the Dallas Jackals in Arlington on Sunday.
| SCORING |
SEATTLE 25
Tries (1) – T. Lopeti (79′)
Cons (1) – M. Mason 1/1 (80′)
Pens (6) – M. Mason 6/6 (9′, 15′, 20′, 36′, 53′, 55′)
SAN DIEGO 19
Tries (1) – J. Henderson (58′)
Cons (1) – J. Henderson 1/1 (59′)
Pens (4) – J. Henderson 4/5 (22′, 26′, 38′, 72′)
YC (1) – B. Cowan (19′)
RC (1) – P. Telea-Ilalio (52′)
| LINEUPS |
SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Cameron Orr, 2 Peter Malcolm (16 Joe Taufete’e 6′), 3 Sam Matenga (18 Olive Kilifi 75′), 4 Rhyno Herbst, 5 Mahonri Ngakuru (20 Reid Davis 34′), 6 Jean Droste, 7 Charles Elton, 8 Riekert Hattingh (capt.), 9 JP Smith (21 Ryan Rees 74′), 10 Mack Mason, 11 Toni Pulu, 12 Dan Kriel, 13 Tavite Lopeti, 14 Jade Stighling (23 Lauina Futi 70′), 15 Divan Rossouw
Not used: 17 Chance Wenglewski, 19 Taylor Krumrei, 22 Sam Windsor
SAN DIEGO LEGION
1 Payton Telea-Ilalio (17 Nathan Sylvia 72′), 2 Hugh Roach (16 Cyrille Cama 74′), 3 Luke Green (18 Darcy Breen 67′), 4 Isaac Ross (17 Nathan Sylvia 63′-72′) (19 Charlie Hewitt 72′), 5 Greg Peterson, 6 Christian Poidevin (20 Vili Helu 18′), 7 Blair Cowan (capt.), 8 Tupou Afungia, 9 Connor Tupai, 10 Josh Henderson, 11 Filimoni Waqainabete, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 13 Marcel Brache, 14 Tomas Aoake, 15 Mikey Te’o
Not used: 21 Aminae Amiatu-Tanoi, 22 Nick Boyer, 23 Alex Horan
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Saturday, March 2
Venue: Starfire Stadium, Tukwila
Kickoff: 19:00 local
Weather: drizzle, 35°F (2°C), wind S 9-14mph (14-22km/h)
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
Assistants: Chris Assmus (Canada) & Bradley Schwalger (Canada)
TMO: Austin Reed (USA)
