Tukwila, WA – The Seattle Seawolves dominated the visiting Hartford Harpooners on Friday, January 28th, with a 50-0 win at Starfire sports complex. The Seawolves dominated this game, maintaining possession throughout and preventing the Harpooners from registering a try. After a 76-8 victory over Seattle rugby club on the 22nd, this blowout win in the preseason finale gives the Seawolves even more positive momentum going into the regular season.
Seattle would come out of the gates quick, as Tavite Lopeti would show his speed off and score the first try of the game just around ten minutes in. Lopeti would essentially open the flood gates, as the Seawolves would score 14 more points in the opening half. AJ Alatimu would play an important role in this one, slotting several kicks through the posts and logging some assists as well. Seattle would dominate until the final whistle, finishing the game without giving up a single try.
While the blowout is nice, there are always things that a team can improve on. The Seawolves registered a fair number of penalties, and despite the fact that they were able to mitigate them with their defensive play, this can be cleaned up. For the most part, the passing looked crisp and seeing a variety of players log tries is a good thing. Improvements can be made as always, but the preseason was a solid showing for the Seawolves.
Here’s a quick background if you are just learning more about Seattle’s major league rugby team: The team was founded in 2017 and has won two MLR titles (Most in the league, and back-to-back in 2018 and 2019). Taniela Tupou, who just signed with the team, is a Marysville native and played at the University of Washington, with the Seattle Seahawks and Seattle Dragons. Tommy Clark and Kellen Gordon are also from the state of Washington
The Seawolves start the regular season off on February 6th, at home against the Toronto Arrows.
Photo credits to Maddy Grassy, thank you Maddy!
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