Both the Seattle Seawolves and Toronto Arrows are on a postseason push. Seattle looked to maintain its pressure on the top of the table while Toronto hoped to step closer to the top four. The Arrows boosted their playoff contention as they earned a bonus-point win over the Seawolves 29-7 in Toronto.
This is the second-ever meeting between the two sides, with the Seawolves squeaking out a 5-point victory, 35-30, in Seattle in February.
The game proved to be a defensive battle, rife with errors forced and unforced. Following a dangerous tackle call against Seattle, Sam Malcolm broke the deadlock 25 minutes in with Toronto’s first three points.
The Arrows’ defense showed their muster as they forced turnovers and stopped deep attacks by the Seawolves. Most of the first half was played in Toronto territory.
Toronto earned a yellow card and went down a man with ten minutes left in the half. Seattle was unable to exploit its man advantage, however, instead allowing Toronto to steal a lineout and maintain possession as it marched down the field. Mike Sheppard found the corner running through tackles and Toronto stretched its lead. The conversion was off the mark, and the Arrows are up 8-0 (35th minute).
The score remained as the yellow card and the half expired.
Seattle was unsuccessful in igniting any stretch of offense. The Seawall maintained its patented pressure until Guiseppe du Toit wound his way through the wall for Toronto’s second try. The conversion was good and Toronto strengthened its lead 15-0 (46th minute).
Some back and forth turnovers and the defensive skirmish ensued. Seattle had several well-established attacks, but self-inflicted wounds prevented it from getting any points until finding solidarity at 62 minutes with a sidewinding effort by Shalom Suniula who found the try zone for Seattle’s first and only try. Brock Staller added the conversion and Seattle saved the shut-out 15-7.
Toronto responded quickly, but the Seawall forced more handling errors. Seattle counter-attacked and got within the Toronto 22m, but a sly interception and quick pass to Dan Moor led to him racing up the sideline and into the endzone for a long score. With the conversion, the score jumped to 22-7 (71st minute).
Seattle restart went out of bounds in the try zone, resulting in a Toronto scrum at midfield. Toronto took full advantage and maintained its momentum, scoring its bonus-point try after some pounding phases and a finish by Paul Ciulini. With the conversion, the score extended to 29-7 (75th minute).
The Seawolves were unable to find an answer in the frantic last few minutes, as the Seawall was on shift for most of the last few minutes. The score remained a decisive 29-7 as the clock hit 80 minutes.
Seattle will gain some much-needed rest as it enters a bye week with some work to be done and film to watch of a rare loss. The team will face RUNY and Glendale in back-to-back away matches in the weeks following.
Toronto will be at home again with another tough opponent in San Diego Legion, who, after a victory this weekend, holds the number one slot in the standings.
Seattle is third on the table at 8-4-0 41TP, just 3 points ahead of RUNY (8-3-0 38TP).
Scoring:
Seattle Seawolves 7, Toronto Arrows 25
Seawolves:
Tries: Shalom Suniula (62’)
Conversions: Brock Staller 1/1 (63’)
Toronto:
Tries: Mike Sheppard (34’), Leandro Leivas (45’), Dan Moor (70’), Paul Ciulini (74’)
Conversions: Sam Malcolm 3/4 (46’), (71’), (75’)
Penalty Kicks: Sam Malcolm 1/1 (25’)
