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A 79th minute try from Malacchi Esdale gave Seattle their first win of the season on Saturday night, a 27-24 result over the Free Jacks. Despite outscoring New England five tries to three, six missed kicks at goal saw the Seawolves trailing for the entirety of the match until the late heroics from the US Olympian.
Jayson Potroz guided the visitors to the first try when the playmaker switched directions and put Simon-Peter Toleafoa through a gap. Toleafoa stepped past two defenders to score, and soon after a second try came to the Free Jacks when Joe Johnston spunt through a tackle to ground the ball on the line. Potroz converted both to make it 14-nil.
Seattle responded with two tries of their own, both scored by Cameron Orr. The first was more conventional with the loosehead prop smashing over when the Free Jacks splintered in a maul. Faletoi Peni then saw yellow for a late lifting tackle on JP Smith. The penalty gave the Seawolves field position and Orr took a short pass off the deck from Lauina Futi to dive in for his double.
Eddie Fouché missed both conversion attemps, but Potroz made good on a penalty goal to make it 17-10 to New England. Calamity ensued on the kickoff. Toleafoa dropped the ball clean for Divan Rossouw to pick up and score the easiest try of his career. On the very next restart, however, Rossouw attempted to corral the ball with his foot and instead gave it straight to Toleafoa, who showed off more footwork to score his brace. At halftime the score was 24-15 in favor of the visitors.
Harrison Boyle earned a 10-minute spell on the sidelines for a high tackle on Futi. Fouché then made up for his earlier misses when he stabbed a grubber into the corner that was somehow picked up off the deck by Mika Kruse at speed. Rodney Iona took over the kicking duties and tacked on the extra two.
Long range penalty attempts from both teams went amiss as Potroz and then Iona shook their heads in frustration. Iona then missed a much easier offering and the clock was now working against Seattle. Esdale replaced Duncan Matthews with two minutes to play and with his first touch, the Seawolves debutant stepped on the gas and carved past the defense to score a superb solo effort. There was time enough for a restart but it would be to no avail as Seattle kicked the ball dead into touch.
Both teams are back in action next Saturday. New England celebrates their home opener opposite NOLA Gold, while Seattle head south to visit RFC Los Angeles.
| SCORING |
SEATTLE 27
Tries (5) – C. Orr 2 (15′, 23′), D. Rossouw (27′), M. Kruse (47′), M. Esdale (79′)
Cons (1) – E. Fouché 0/3, R. Iona 1/2 (48′)
Pens (0) – R. Iona 0/2
NEW ENGLAND 24
Tries (3) – S. Toleafoa 2 (6′, 29′), J. Johnston (11′)
Cons (3) – J. Potroz 3/3 (7′, 12′, 30′)
Pens (1) – J. Potroz 1/2 (26′)
YC (2) – F. Peni (21′), H. Boyle (44′)
| LINEUPS |
SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Cameron Orr (17 Dewald Donald 60′), 2 Kerron van Vuuren (16 Dewald Kotze 60′), 3 Juan Pablo Zeiss (18 Mason Pedersen 48′), 4 Rhyno Herbst, 5 Malembe Mpofu (19 Isaia Lotawa 55′), 6 Huw Taylor, 7 Devin Short (20 Siaosi Mahoni 80′), 8 Riekert Hattingh (capt.), 9 JP Smith (21 Brock Gallagher 80′), 10 Eddie Fouché (22 David Busby 69′), 11 Mika Kruse, 12 Rodney Iona, 13 Divan Rossouw, 14 Lauina Futi, 15 Duncan Matthews (23 Malacchi Esdale 78′)
NEW ENGLAND FREE JACKS
1 Tevita Sole (16 Foster DeWitt 60′), 2 Andrew Quattrin (17 Cole Keith 72′), 3 Jone Koroiduadua (18 Kaleb Geiger 50′), 4 Piers von Dadelszen (19 Kyle Baillie 50′), 5 Conor Keys, 6 Jerónimo Gómez Vara, 7 Joe Johnston (capt.), 8 Wian Conradie (20 Kaipono Kayoshi 66′), 9 Oscar Lennon (21 Cam Nordli-Kelemeti 75′), 10 Jayson Potroz, 11 Brock Webster (23 Wayne van der Bank 46′), 12 Faletoi Peni (22 Jack Reeves 60′), 13 Killian Coghlan, 14 Simon-Peter Toleafoa, 15 Harrison Boyle
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Saturday, March 8
Venue: Starfire Stadium, Tukwila
Kickoff: 19:00 local
Weather: cloudy, 52°F (11°C), wind SW 12-18mph (19-29km/h)
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Robin Kaluzniak (Canada)
Assistants: Shanda Assmus (Canada) & Will Nelson (USA)
TMO: Saro Turner (Canada)
| HIGHLIGHTS |
