Press Release
Olympic Club 43, Santa Monica 31
Olympic Club notched their second victory of the season on Saturday with a 43-31 win over Santa Monica. The Hawley brothers were particularly dangerous in the match as was fly-half Keegan Engelbrecht. However, before O-Club could get on a roll it was the Dolphins who liked like they would come away with the win. Dave Martini, Mathieu Lesgourgues, and fullback Tyler Pritchard would score to give Santa Monica a 19-3 lead. But after that O-Club stormed back with Colin Hawley taking a nice prop-like pick and go to score. Michael Haley added the team's second try to make it 19-15 to Santa Monica at the half.
In the second half Olympic Club were the first to get out on the front foot. Garrett Hawley crossed over to give O-Club their first lead of the match and then Haley scored his second try to make it 29-19. Still, credit to Santa Monica for fighting back. Solid pressure and runs down the middle earned them two tries to make it 31-29 for the Dolphins. But as the half wore on Olympic Club began to see a lot more of the ball and run through multiple phases. That pressure paid off as a nice pass from Engelbrecht found John Gallo for the try. Colin Hawley then put the final touch on the match with a 50 meter run off a scrum move for a try.
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Denver 41, OMBAC 41
The Denver Barbarians and OMBAC played to a thrilling 41-41 draw over the weekend. Both teams had their offenses up and running early but OMBAC were the first to get on the board with a try and a penalty. The penalty was the result of an attempted chip by PRP leading scorer Zach Pangelinan over Denver's Max De Achaval, who was judged to have impeded his progress and sent to the bin. OMBAC then increased their lead when Pangelinan took advantage of a hole in the Barbarians defense to make it 15-0.
Still, Denver stayed patient and earned a penalty before OMBAC's Ben Leatigaga, also a U.S. 7s team member, scored to make it 22-3. Denver were the next to answer with Taylor Howden making a nice pass to Hunter Lealand for the score. The teams would then exchange more points with Brendan Shea scoring a try for Denver and Pangelinan hitting a couple of penalties for OMBAC.
The second half was similar to the first with both teams out on attack. Barbarians Man-of-the-Match John Godinet scored to make the score 22-31 but then Tai Tuisamoa pegged one back for OMBAC to make it 38-22. Denver put in several strong plays just to miss out until Will Jennings scored to cut the deficit. Pangelinan would hit another penalty for OMBAC but then tries from Iniki Fa'amausili and Lealand tied the match up. De Achaval had a penalty attempt to win it at the end but missed.
SFGG 41, Belmont Shore 24
SFGG defeated rivals Belmont Shore to give their hopes of making the final a boost while also hurting Belmont's diminishing chances. Center Sone Pone was the hero on the day scoring two early tries for SFGG before Sam Lilley scored the first of his two tries on the day for Belmont. The teams then traded penalties before Brendan Daly continued his hot streak to increase SFGG's lead to 21-10 at the half.
The wind was a factor all day but both teams seemed to adjust. SFGG was the first to get on the board in the second half when Tai Enosa scored six minutes in. Lilley then scored his second of the day to make it 26-17. From that point SFGG took over with Andre Coquillard and Volney Rouse each scoring tries. Belmont answered with a try from Pase Iosia to finish off the scoring.