The Seattle Seawolves defeated the Toronto Arrows 35-30 on Sunday, February 17 at Starfire Sports. With the win, the Seawolves move to 2-2 into third-place with 11 points. The Arrows record falls to 1-2 with 7 points and is in seventh place.
The Seawolves opened there season with a win over the Glendale Raptors but then lost to the San Diego Legion and to NOLA Gold. The Toronto Arrows opened their season with a loss to NOLA Gold and after a bye came back to defeat Austin Elite Rugby last week.
Match Recap
The Toronto Arrows placed inspired rugby and had the majority of possession during the first half. The Seawolves were equally determined and took advantage of scoring opportunities.
The Arrows struck first with a try by Marcelo Wainwright, which was converted by Sam Malcolm for a 7-0 lead.
The Seattle Seawolves answered back with a try from short range by Oli Kilifi with a conversion by Brock Staller to level the match at 7 all.
Next, it was the Arrows turn with Kolby Francis barreling over in-goal from a scrum and then Malcolm converted again to reclaim the lead, 14-7.
Seattle answered back after a Brock Staller and Oli Kilifi runs with Eric Duechle fighting off three defenders for the try. Staller then slotted the kick and it was 14 all.
Both teams then traded penalty kicks with Malcolm slotting first, followed by a Staller kick for a 17 all score at the break.
Second Half
The Toronto Arrows struck first in the second half from a Kolby Francis break and an Andrew Ferguson finish to take a 24-17 lead after Malcolm’s conversion. The Arrows then pushed the lead to 30-17 after two Malcolm kicks.
Seattle answered back as Brad Tucker found a seam and flicked the ball to Shalom Suniula for a try. After Staller converted the team was within six, 30-24. The Seawolves were then held up in-goal, but soon after, Ben Cima dove in for a try to cut the led to 30-29.
In the closing minutes, Ben Cima attempted two drop goals and Brock Staller slotted two penalty kicks to claim a 35-30 comeback win.
Eric Duechle was named the Seawolves Man of the Match.
Squads, Links to Player Articles & Match Preview
Seattle Seawolves: 1 Olive Kilifi 2 Stephan Coetzee 3 Tim Metcher 4 Apisai Naikatini 5 Brad Tucker 6 Cam Polson 7 Eric Duechle 8 Riekert Hattingh 9 Phil Mack 10 Ben Cima 11 Peter Tiberio 12 George Barton 13 William Rasileka 14 Brock Staller 15 Mat Turner 16 Mike Shepherd 17 Kellen Gordon 18 John Hayden 19 Taylor Krumrei 20 Nakai Penny 21 JP Smith 22 Shalom Suniula 23 Sequoyah Burke-Combs
Toronto Arrows: 1 Tom Dolezel 2 AJ Quattrin 3 Morgan Mitchell 4 Mike Sheppard 5 Paul Ciulini 6 Peter Milazzo 7 Marcello Wainwright 8 Kolby Francis 9 Andrew Ferguson 10 Sam Malcolm 11 Dan Moor (C) 12 Guiseppe du Toit 13 Spencer Jones 14 Avery Oitomen 15 Shawn Windsor 16 Steven Ng 17 Doug Wooldridge 18 Cole Keith 19 Josh Van Horne 20 Andy Wilson 21 Riley DiNardo 22 Johnny Sheridan 23 Jack Evans
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