MLR Preview – San Diego Legion vs NOLA Gold

Less than a month removed from their first meeting of the season in New Orleans, the San Diego Legion will host the NOLA Gold on Sunday evening in a match with enormous playoff implications. A win by the Legion – or a tie – will clinch home field advantage throughout the Championship Series. NOLA meanwhile need points of any kind just to stay alive.

In just three weeks the Gold have slipped from second place to fifth, tied for points with three others and in desperate need of redemption. The slide is on the back of three straight defeats including the 26-19 loss to the Legion and most recently the 24-22 loss to RUNY a week ago.

The scrum came under considerable pressure in New York. As a response four of the tight five have been changed. Matt Harmon and Ross Davies start at prop, the latter making his MLR debut after being an unused replacement against Houston. Kyle Baillie returns early from an ankle injury to start at lock, with youngster Billy Stewart getting the nod over Kane Thompson.

San Diego, meanwhile, are the only team already qualified for the Semi Finals heading into the final weekend. They have won seven of their last eight including the last two. After enjoying a bye week there are six changes to the starting lineup.

Kapeli Pifeleti is back to full fitness and starts at hooker with Paddy Ryan recalled at tighthead prop. New signing Joshua Furno comes straight into the second row, and Psalm Wooching is also fit and named at openside flanker. Another new signing – Eagles No8 David Tameilau – takes a spot on the bench.

There are two injury returnees in the backs. Joe Pietersen is restored to the captaincy and flyhalf spot with Ryan Matyas coming in at outside center. Conor Kearns slides to the right wing with Save Totovosau dropping to the bench. It’s a 6-2 split with Tai Enosa the only other reserve back.

Despite the relative safety of their position, the Legion will want to leave nothing to chance knowing that Seattle’s odds for a bonus point win are strong. On paper this is a very strong San Diego lineup with the two new additions adding depth to the pack. NOLA enter as clear underdogs but have the talent to at the very least keep it close with their high tempo offense charged with earning an extra bonus point to potentially earn a spot in the Semis.

Kickoff is set for 4:30pm local, 6:30pm Central, 7:30pm Eastern. A local broadcast will be available on Fox 5 San Diego. ESPN+ will carry the game nationwide, with a Facebook stream available to those located outside the USA.

SAN DIEGO LEGION
1 Faka’osi Pifeleti, 2 Kapeli Pifeleti, 3 Paddy Ryan, 4 Louis Stanfill, 5 Joshua Furno, 6 Jasa Veremalua, 7 Psalm Wooching, 8 Jordan Manihera, 9 Nate Augspurger, 10 Joe Pietersen (capt.), 11 Nick Boyer, 12 JP du Plessis, 13 Ryan Matyas, 14 Conor Kearns, 15 Mike Te’o

Replacements: 16 Siaosi Mahoni, 17 Pat Blair, 18 David Tameilau, 19 Keni Nasoqeqe, 20 Nathan Sylvia, 21 Dino Waldren, 22 Save Totovosau, 23 Tai Enosa

NOLA GOLD
1 Matt Harmon, 2 Eric Howard (capt.), 3 Ross Davies, 4 Kyle Baillie, 5 Billy Stewart, 6 Ignacio Dotti, 7 Zack Stryffeler, 8 Cam Dolan, 9 Holden Yungert, 10 Scott Gale, 11 Nick Feakes, 12 Con Foley, 13 Tristan Blewett, 14 Tim Maupin, 15 JP Eloff

Replacements: 16 Hubert Buydens, 17 Cam Falcon, 18 Kevin Sullivan, 19 Kane Thompson, 20 Nikola Bursic, 21 Moni Tonga’uiha, 22 Michael Baska, 23 Taylor Howden

Date: Sunday, June 2
Venue: Torero Stadium, San Diego
Kickoff: 16:30 local (18:30 Central, 19:30 Eastern)
Referee: Scott Green (USAR)
Assistants: Paul-Henri Courbier (USAR) & Austin Reed (USAR)
Broadcasts: ESPN+, Facebook, Fox 5 San Diego