Glendale Raptors & Seattle Seawolves

The Glendale Raptors played their final regular season match against the second place Seattle Seawolves at Infinity Park on Saturday, June 16 winning 33-11. With the win, the 7-0 Raptors secured first-place in the Major League Rugby regular season with the 6-2 Seawolves in second. This match may serve as a preview of Major League Rugby Championship that will be held in San Diego on July 7.

The Raptors swept the season series, as they won 19-15 during week two. The Raptors still have a match left against the San Diego Legion on June 24 in San Diego. Both teams will be in the playoffs, however, pending the outcome of an earlier match that day between the Utah Warriors and the Houston SaberCats, the Legion will know if they are playing for either third or fourth place.

The battle for the final two playoff spots comes down to June 23. The MLR 3-5 standings after this weekend have the Legion (20 points), Austin Elite Rugby (18), and the Utah Warriors (17). Austin Elite Rugby has completed their season.

Match Recap

The Seattle Seawolves struck first from a scrum getting the ball to Mozac Samson for a try. Will Holder’s conversion was wide, but the Seawolves had a 5-0 lead. A penalty kick by Holder pushed the lead to 8-0 and a drop goal by Holder made it 11-0.

The Raptors scored their first try in the 36th minute as Chad London poached a ball at the breakdown and then raced for a long try. Maximo de Achaval’s conversion was good to cut the lead to 11-7. Just prior to the break Zach Fenoglio added a try from a maul and after de Achaval’s conversion, the Raptors took a 14-11 lead into the break.

Glendale continued to score in the second half. They added 19 more points in claiming a 33-11 win.

The first came as Seth Halliman passed inside to Mika Kruse for a try in the corner. Soon after, Cam Polson received a yellow card for a high tackle and the Seawolves would play down a man. De Achaval grubber in-goal resulted in a try by London. Connor Cook added another try in the 53rd minute to complete the scoring.

The Raptors will attempt to finish the regular season undefeated as they travel to San Diego for a match against the Legion on Saturday, June 23 at 7:30 pm PT (10:30 pm ET).

Glendale Raptors & Seattle Seawolves Squads

Glendale Raptors: 1Blake Rogers, 2 Zach Fenoglio (c), 3 Kelepi Fifita, 4 Casey Rock, 5 Kody O’Neil, 6 Connor Cook, 7 Brian Wanless, 8 Peter Dahl, 9 Jake Christmann, 10 Maximo de Achaval, 11John Ryberg, 12 Mika Kruse, 13 Chad London, 14 Harley Davidson, 15 Seth Halliman16 Luke White, 17 Nick Kwasniewski, 18 James Del Bozque, 19 Devin Vaughter, 20 Logan Collins, 21 Mickey Bateman, 22 Nick Johnson 23 Siale Maka+ Head Coach David Williams

Seattle Seawolves: 1 Kellen Gordon, 2 Dan Trierweiler, 3 Tim Metcher, 4 Taylor Krumrei, 5 Cam Polson, 6 Eric Duechle, 7 Nakai Penny, 8 Aladdin Schirmer, 9 Phil Mack (C), 10 Will Holder, 11 Sequoyah Burke-Combs, 12 Mozac Samson, 13 William Rasileka, 14 Jeremy Misailegalu 15 Mat Turner 16 Louie Henson, 17 John Hayden, 18 LaRome White, 19 Jérémy Lenaerts, 20 Andre Coquillard, 21 Cole van Harn, 22 Pte Smith 23 Dion Crowder

Glendale Raptors Exhibition Season

March 10 vs. New Orleans Gold (W 38-14) Preview
March 30 at Utah Warriors (W 42-15) Preview
April 7 at New York Athletic Club (W 35-22) Preview with March 30 recap against Utah Warriors

Glendale Raptors 2018 Major League Rugby Season

April 21 vs. Austin Elite (W 41-26) Preview CBSSN (GAME OF THE WEEK)
April 28 at Seattle Seawolves (W 19-15) Preview CBSSN (GAME OF THE WEEK)
May 5 at Utah Warriors (W 36-29) Preview AT&T SportsNet
May 13 vs. San Diego Legion (W 31-27) Preview Cox/AT&T SportsNet
June 3 at New Orleans Gold (W 47-10) Preview 2 pm MDT Network: Cox/AT&T SportsNet
June 8 vs. Houston SaberCats (37-24) Preview AT&T SportsNet
June 16 vs. Seattle Seawolves (W 33-11) Preview 7 pm MST Network: AT&T SportsNet
June 23 at San Diego Legion Preview 8 pm MT CBSSN