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Raptors Shut Out Second-Place Seawolves In Second Half, Stay Perfect

GLENDALE, Colo. (CBS4) -- The Glendale Raptors secured their position at the head of the Major League Rugby standings -- and their undefeated record -- by beating the Seattle Seawolves 33-11 at Infinity Park Saturday night.

Glendale had shown consistent ability to gain early advantages in its recent victories. But Seattle, which came into the contest in second place in the league standings, jumped to an early 11-0 lead.

In the team's first meeting in week 2 of this inaugural MLR season, it was the Raptors who rode an 11-0 lead to a 18-15 win in rainy Seattle.

This time, however, Glendale rattled 33 straight points to move to 7-0.

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(credit: glendalerugby.com )

Outside center Chad London put the Raptors on the board 35 minutes into the match when he poached the ball out of the ruck and took it the other way for a long try. Maximo de Achaval added the conversion.

Three minutes later, hooker Zach Fenoglio rode a driving maul into the in-goal.

With that, the Raptors had the lead going into the half. And the rest of the game.

"In the first half, I thought they could've gotten away from us a little bit more than they did," said Raptors head coach David Williams. "We were lucky to go into halftime ahead. They didn't really offer anything in the second half, to be fair. We kept them out at the end which is really good. It shows good culture, good ascendency on the fence which is awesome. I'm really happy with that."

London, Mika Kruse, and Connor Cook added tries to the Raptor's count in the second half, but it was defensive pressure that forced Seattle into several penalties and allowed Glendale to cruise to the finish.

"On defense, just holding them back," London said. "They are a good team, a good defensive team, good attacking team. Defensively, I think we stepped up huge and that helped us moving forward."

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Glendale Raptors center Chad London (right) prepares to collide with other players during a tackle Saturday evening's 33-11 win over the Seattle Seawolves at Infinity Park. (credit: glendalerugby.com )

Glendale kept its record perfect at 7-0 while Seattle fell to 6-2.

Glendale moves forward to the last game of the regular season Saturday in San Diego.

The team will then host first round of the MLR playoffs a week later.

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