Warriors beat Chicago on the Road in physical first match of the season

CHICAGO — The Utah Warriors used a strong start and an even stronger finish to score an impressive 45-31 win over the Chicago Hounds on Sunday.

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Without the benefit of having played the week prior, Utah looked to be in midseason form, dominating possession early and often. Strong physical play and precise execution — particularly during early line-out opportunities paved the way in securing a critical five points in the standings.

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“You never really know how to gauge how your team will do, even with a strong preseason, but I'm smiling” said Warriors Coach Greg Cooper. “That was a quality win against a quality side and I’m proud of how the boys performed out there.”

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Utah set the tone early, scoring a try after just 90 seconds of play courtesy of Liam Coltman dotting the ball down in the try zone after a successful maul. About five minutes later Blake Makiri scored a try off an effective offload from Logan Crowley for an early 14-0 lead.

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Considering Utah was playing its first match of the year, after the Hounds took an impressive road win from Houston last week, the start was even more impressive.

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“We don’t traditionally start well,” Cooper said. “So I think it was very important that we started well, which we did, but then our discipline let us down a bit.”

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Indeed Chicago took advantage of several Utah mistakes in outscoring the Warriors 28-7 over the next 40 minutes for a 28-21 lead shortly after the second half. Utah’s lone try during that stretch came from Joe Mano dotting the ball down following a precise kick assist from D’Angelo Leuila.

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But things changed dramatically following Chicago being issued a red card during the match’s 47th minute.

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Utah took a clear advantage with the Hounds playing with a man down, with Matt Jensen scoring a try in the 51st minute and then Spencer Jones scoring another after a long run-out following a turnover in the 59th for a 35-28 lead.

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In between all of it was Leiula directing the play from his fly-half position and going a perfect 7-7 in kick attempts.

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“He kicked a significant amount of goals today from all over the park — pressure goals, and he was outstanding,” Cooper said. “We’re fortunate to have him and Joel (Hodgson) as well for two high-class (Fly-halfs.)

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Finishing things off was Mano, taking an offload from Jordan Trainor to polish things off in style in the 79th minute.

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“Joey is a great try-scorer,” Cooper said. “I think with the team we’ve got this year that Joey is going to get better and better, and I think that we’re going to see him play to his best.”

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As for Utah’s strong finish, it helps when you can bring quality talent like Paul Lasike, Bailey Wilson and Phil Bradford off the bench late, along with several others.

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“We’ve worked hard on our conditioning, so credit to the training staff and yeah, our reserves came in and had exactly the type of impact that you would hope there,” Cooper said. “But you don’t just finish well with conditioning, but with the belief of how you’re playing and with the connections we’ve built off the field. We’re a united team.”

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Last, but certainly not least was the play of Utah’s front line, led by team captain Gavin Thornbury in issuing forth strong physical play that set a good tone throughout.

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“They drove the intent today,” Cooper said. “The intent was to get physical and we had to get physical because Chicago is a very physical team.”

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With the win and at least four tries scored Utah secured five points in the standings and will look to parlay its early momentum when taking on The New Orleans Gold this coming Saturday at Zions Bank Stadium.

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