Legion a step ahead of Arrows in Marietta

The San Diego Legion earned their third consecutive victory with a well-earned 40-30 result against the Arrows at Lupo Family Field on Sunday. Toronto managed to stay in touch until the final quarter when the visitors pulled away.

Joe Pietersen landed two penalties in the opening minutes to give the visitors the lead. The second came from a scrum collapse immediately after the Arrows suffered a blow as Cole Keith was helped off and replaced by Pat Lynott.

The first try also went to San Diego. Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias made ground and then Faka’osi Pifeleti attacked the fringe, offloading to Ethan McVeigh for a seven-point effort. Tayler Adams landed a penalty soon after from a scrum penalty that went Toronto’s way, but the Legion still enjoyed a double-digit lead.

Lucas Rumball left the pitch for running repairs as Adams knocked over the second penalty, with Siaki Vikilani coming on to make his pro debut. Pietersen erased the three points instantly however with a perfectly-struck drop goal to make it 16-6 at the hydration break.

Tiaan Loots was binned for a breakdown indiscretion just before halftime. Toronto too advantage on the short side. Quick hands from Joaquín Tuculet and Leandro Leivas set Ben LeSage free down the left sideline. He passed back to Tuculet on his inside for the finish, with Adams converting as the teams went to the sheds.

Adams leveled the scores early in the second half. With Loots only just back on the pitch, the center took out Tuculet after he had kicked the ball. He was spared a second yellow but the penalty was awarded where the ball landed to make it an easy three.

After a smattering of replacements the Legion jumped out ahead with a try through Joshua Furno. It was Pifeleti again in the middle of it, barging through a tackle and handing off to his second row mate for a seven-pointer.

A mistake at the restart handed possession straight back to the Arrows. Vikilani punched ahead and then Mason Flesch circled around to attack the blind side. He was stopped just short but freed his arm in the tackle to send Gastón Mieres in for a try, with Adams landing the extras to make it 23-all.

As the teams emerged from the second water break San Diego would score their third try. They opted for a scrum at a penalty in front of the posts. Toronto’s defense held initially but Furno spun out of a tackle and reached out to score a double, with Pietersen tacking on two more.

The final minutes were frantic. Dan Pryor was binned for a high tackle, but Adams couldn’t connect on a penalty goal. San Diego launched a counter-attack and Loots was freed to score under the posts and stretch the lead to 14 points.

Mieres popped up on his opposite wing to set up countryman Leandro Leivas on the right side, with Adams successful with the conversion but it was too little, too late. Pietersen put the result beyond doubt with a penalty two minutes from time.

Both teams return to action next Saturday. Toronto will play their final road game of the season in Austin before ending the campaign at their makeshift home in Marietta. San Diego take their momentum into a match that could well decide a playoff spot against the Utah Warriors at Salt Lake.

 

SCORING

TORONTO 30
Tries – J. Tuculet (40’), G. Mieres (53’), L. Leivas (75’)
Cons – T. Adams 3/3 (40’, 54’, 76’)
Pens – T. Adams 3/4 (15’, 20’, 46’)

SAN DIEGO 40
Tries – E. McVeigh (12’), J. Furno 2 (52’, 60’), T. Loots (71’)
Cons – No kick 3 (12’, 52’, 71’), J. Pietersen 1/1 (61’)
Pens – J. Pietersen 3/3 (3’, 7’, 78’)
Drop goals – J. Pietersen 1/1 (22’)
Yellow cards – T. Loots (35’), D. Pryor (67’)

 

TEAMS

TORONTO ARROWS
1 Cole Keith (17 Pat Lynott 5’), 2 Andrew Quattrin (16 Jack McRogers 54’), 3 Tyler Rowland (18 Gastón Cortes 35’), 4 Mike Sheppard (20 Adrian Wadden 50′), 5 Paul Ciulini (8 Manuel Diana 64′), 6 Mason Flesch, 7 Lucas Rumball (co-capt.) (19 Siaki Vikilani 19’-33’), 8 Manuel Diana (19 Siaki Vikilani 50’), 9 Jason Higgins (21 Ross Braude 50’), 10 Tayler Adams, 11 Leandro Leivas, 12 Spencer Jones (22 Will Kelly 72’), 13 Ben LeSage (co-capt.), 14 Gastón Mieres, 15 Joaquín Tuculet (23 Patrick Parfrey 67’)

SAN DIEGO LEGION
1 Faka’osi Pifeleti (17 Nathan Sylvia 54’), 2 Dean Muir (16 Peter Malcolm 49’), 3 Paddy Ryan (18 Chris Baumann 49’), 4 Joshua Furno, 5 Tom Franklin (19 Tevita Tameilau 71’), 6 Psalm Wooching (20 Keni Nasoqeqe 55’), 7 Michael Smith (21 Chris Robshaw 61’), 8 Dan Pryor, 9 Ethan McVeigh (22 Carlo de Nysschen 48’), 10 Joe Pietersen, 11 Bjorn Basson, 12 Tiaan Loots, 13 Thomas Morani, 14 Cameron Clark (capt.) (23 Ryan Matyas 72′), 15 Santiago González Iglesias

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
Assistants: Henrique Platais (Brazil) & Cisco Lopez (USA)