Legion leave it late to beat SaberCats

photo credit: Griff Lacey / JGL Images / San Diego Legion

Recap

The San Diego Legion scored two tries late in the game to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and earn a 17-13 win over the Houston SaberCats on Saturday evening. Joe Pietersen was the hero once again with a bit of magic creating the game winning score for Nate Augspurger with under two minutes on the clock.

Houston got off to a dream start at Torero Stadium. Josua Vici was back in the lineup and their star winger was nearly in for a try as fans were still finding their seats. Desperate defense pushed him into touch before the ball could be grounded, but the Legion could only hold him out for so long.

Another opportunity came as the clock hit 10 minutes and this time Vici made no mistake. He shot through a hole and stepped the cover defense to grab the first try. Sam Windsor added the extras to make it a seven pointer.

Windsor showed his kicking process again with two penalties on either side of one from Pietersen. The score read Houston 13, San Diego 3 at the break with all the momentum in favor of the SaberCats.

The second half could not have been more opposite to the first. San Diego immediately pushed their way into the Houston half and attacked relentlessly. Wave after wave of Legion attackers crashed into the line but the SaberCats refused to break.

At long last, after spending virtually the entire half in Houston territory San Diego finally found their way through. Keni Nasoqeqe found a half-gap and crashed over for a converted try. The deficit was still three with only five minutes to play.

A critical error from the SaberCats cost them the game. Instead of pinning the Legion back in their own end the tried to grind the clock out with their forwards. It failed, with San Diego winning a turnover and setting the stage for Pietersen’s brilliance.

From an attacking scrum the flyhalf took the ball as a second receiver and curled around the corner to create a two-on-one. Augspurger was the man on his outside and Pietersen’s pass put the Eagles flyer into the corner for a cracking score. The conversion split the uprights and Houston wouldn’t get another chance as the Legion won the restart and held on for the win.

 

SCORING

SAN DIEGO 17
Tries – K. Nasoqeqe (74’), N. Augspurger (78’)
Cons – J. Pietersen 2/2 (75’, 79’)
Pens – J. Pietersen 1/1 (29’)

HOUSTON 13
Tries – J. Vici (10’)
Cons – S. Windsor 1/1 (11’)
Pens – S. Windsor 2/2 (27’, 31’)

 

TEAMS

SAN DIEGO LEGION
1 Faka’osi Pifeleti (17 Nathan Sylvia HT), 2 Kapeli Pifeleti (16 Dean Muir HT), 3 Paddy Ryan (18 Aaron Mitchell 70’), 4 Louis Stanfill, 5 Keni Nasoqeqe, 6 Chris Turori (19 Sione Tu’ihalamaka 70’), 7 Devin Short (20 Pat Blair 54’), 8 Drew Gaffney, 9 Nick Boyer, 10 Joe Pietersen (capt.), 11 Marcus Tupuola (21 Nate Augspurger HT), 12 JP du Plessis, 13 Jasa Veremalua, 14 Mike Te’o, 15 Conor Kearns (23 Kyle Rogers HT)

Not used: 22 Tai Enosa

HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Jamie Dever (17 Jake Turnbull 60’), 2 Pat O’Toole, 3 Charlie Connolly, 4 Robert Meeson, 5 Matt Trouville (capt.), 6 Luke Beauchamp, 7 Cecil Garber (20 Chris Coyle 24’), 8 Ayron Schramm (19 Chris Parker 60’), 9 Connor Murphy, 10 Sam Windsor, 11 Josua Vici, 12 Conor Mills, 13 Max Tacket, 14 Malacchi Esdale, 15 Zach Pangelinan

Not used: 16 Amro Gouda, 18 Matt Almeida, 21 Kieran Farmer, 22 Kelly Kolberg, 23 Irving Carcamo

 

Result

TeamTCPDBPPoints
San Diego Legion221017
Houston SaberCats1120113

San Diego Legion

1Faka’osi Pifeleti 17 Loosehead Prop
2Kapeli Pifeleti 16 Hooker
3Paddy Ryan 18 Tighthead Prop
4Louis Stanfill Left Lock
5Keni Nasoqeqe Right Lock
6Chris Turori 19 Blindside Flanker
7Devin Short 20 Openside Flanker
8Drew Gaffney Number Eight
9Nick Boyer Scrumhalf
10Joe Pietersen Flyhalf
11Marcus Tupuola 21 Left Wing
12JP du Plessis Inside Center
13Jasa Veremalua Outside Center
14Mike Te’o Right Wing
15Conor Kearns 23 Fullback
16Dean Muir 2 Hooker
17Nathan Sylvia 1 Loosehead Prop
18Aaron Mitchell 3 Tighthead Prop
19Sione Tu’ihalamaka 6 Blindside Flanker
20Pat Blair 7 Openside Flanker
21Nate Augspurger 11 Left Wing
22Tai Enosa Flyhalf
23Kyle Rogers 15 Fullback

Houston SaberCats

1Jamie Dever 17 Loosehead Prop
2Pat O’Toole Hooker
3Charlie Connolly Tighthead Prop
4Robert Meeson Left Lock
5Matt Trouville Right Lock
6Luke Beauchamp Blindside Flanker
7Cecil Garber 20 Openside Flanker
8Ayron Schramm 19 Number Eight
9Connor Murphy Scrumhalf
10Sam Windsor Flyhalf
11Josua Vici Left Wing
12Conor Mills Inside Center
13Max Tacket Outside Center
14Malacchi Esdale Right Wing
15Zach Pangelinan Fullback
16Amro Gouda Hooker
17Jake Turnbull 1 Loosehead Prop
18Matt Almeida Tighthead Prop
19Chris Parker 8 Right Lock
20Chris Coyle 7 Openside Flanker
21Kieran Farmer Flyhalf
22Kelly Kolberg Wing
23Irving Carcamo Inside Center

Officials

Referee
Pali Deluca (Argentina)
Assistant Referee 1
Scott Green (USA)
Assistant Referee 2
Paul-Henri Courbier (USA)

Details

Date Time League Season
February 9, 2019 10:00 pm Major League Rugby 2019

Venue

Torero Stadium
6112 Linda Vista Rd, San Diego, CA 92110, USA

Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIlImV3f-WA

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