Seawolves suffer first loss of season with narrow defeat to Legion
By Charles Hamaker
Tukwila, WA – The Seattle Seawolves saw their undefeated run to begin the season finally meet its end, as their bitter rival San Diego Legion ended that winning streak at 6-0. The Legion were able to march into Starfire Stadium, bring the fight to the Seawolves, and take advantage of the mistakes that the hosts made to secure a three-point victory. In the dying minutes of the game, down by those three points, Seattle had possession of the ball and a chance to walk things off. The Seawolves turned the ball over, the Legion melted what little time was left on the scoreboard, and the referee blew things dead to deal Seattle their first defeat of the 2023 campaign.
Seattle lines up for the national anthem (Photo by Liz Wolter)
A few roster changes against a bitter rival
Considering the magnitude of this matchup, the top two teams in the Western Conference and subsequentially MLR doing battle while also being a rivalry game, Seawolves head coach Allen “Clarkey” Clarke opted for a few lineup changes when his side took the field. Jordan Chait took over the flyhalf spot again, pushing AJ Alatimu over to a center role. Ben Mitchell pushed into a lock spot, replacing Rhyno Herbst. While those were the only notable lineup moves amongst the starters, the reserves featured some older names we haven’t really seen this season: Mat Turner and Andrew Durutalo. Those two certainly know what this rivalry entails, and the battle ahead that awaited Seattle.
Jordan Chait slotted back in as the Seawolves starting flyhalf (Photo by Liz Wolter)
Battling back, but can’t finish the fight
A theme for the large chunk of this game was Seattle’s ability to find a response when San Diego took a lead. The Legion got on the board first with a kick just five minutes after the opening whistle, but the Seawolves were able to answer with a kick of their own. San Diego looked like they had scored the first try of the match, but it was overturned, and the Seattle “SEA-WALL” defense held them out after that review. San Diego would eventually score the first try of the game, and take that lead into halftime, but Seattle came out of the intermission with a try of their own thanks to Charles Elton. Ten minutes later, Jordan Chait scored a try and added the kick to swing momentum and take the lead for Seattle. Chait helped push the lead that he himself had given to the Seawolves, adding a kick to give Seattle a nine-point lead.
The action between two of the top teams in the Western Conference, and big rivals (Photos by Liz Wolter)
San Diego stuns the Seattle crowd
The Legion didn’t panic when they went down by those nine-points that all were scored by Chait, and they locked in. The team tied for second place in the Western Conference and all MLR for a reason, San Diego went on to put up the next 12 points on the board and hold Seattle to nothing throughout the rest of the game. The Seawolves had their opportunities, they just couldn’t push through to take the lead back and secure victory.
A good undefeated run while it lasted, but plenty of season ahead
The Seawolves saw their undefeated run to open the 2023 campaign come to a close, and while it ended because of mistakes that they ended up making, it’s not time to panic. Seattle’s formula that’s gotten them to this point is a sustainable one and will help them win games throughout the rest of the season. The veterans with championship pedigree on this roster won’t allow this loss to seep in too deep to negatively affect the rest of the team, and only enough so to motivate them going forward.
Seawolves players Dan Kriel and Conner Mooneyham come out for player introductions (Photo by Liz Wolter)
What’s next?
The Seawolves will look to bounce back from their first loss of the season when they take on the Utah Warriors on the road on Saturday, April 15th with a match start time of 6:30PM PST. Seattle will aim to get back in the win column and potentially take the top of the Western Conference back from San Diego following this loss, as Utah sits at fourth in this loaded Western Conference at a 5-2 record. It won’t be a breeze of a contest for the Seawolves but given their formula for success that got them to their 6-0 start this season, Seattle should be moving in the right direction again next week.