Anthem RC Falls In Heartbreaker, 31-32, to Miami Sharks

CHARLOTTE, NC (February 28, 2025) – An extremely tight, back-and-forth affair at Mecklenburg County Sportsplex went the way of the Miami Sharks, defeating Anthem RC 31-32. Connor Robinson, Jerad Latu, Sam Golla, Viliami Vuli, and Erich Storti all scored tries for Anthem RC in the effort. 

Miami came right down the field to start the game, but an impressive defensive hold from Anthem RC’s defense held Miami to only three points. 

In the 8th minute, a Miami penalty set Anthem up deep in Miami territory. Robinson bullied his way into the try zone after the subsequent line out to give Anthem the lead. Latu knocked through the conversion and Anthem led 7-3. 

The teams continued to trade blows as Miami quickly answered in the 12th minute. However, Latu had an answer of his own as he converted a seven-pointer to give Anthem RC a 14-10 lead.

Miami regained the lead with a try in the 16th minute, but again, it was short lived as Anthem’s captain Golla forced his way over the try line in the 32nd minute to give Anthem a 19-15 advantage.

Closing out the first half, Anthem RC’s defense responded in a big way. Two consecutive yellow cards from Vuli and Dylan Fortune gave Miami a two-man advantage, but Anthem stoned Miami at the try line to head to halftime with a four-point lead.

Having the two-man disadvantage carry over into the second half, Miami did eventually get on the board as Ben Bonasso took it the distance to give Miami the lead.

Returning from his 10-minute visit to the sin bin, Vuli finished off an Anthem possession, responding quickly to Miami’s try, with a score of his own to give the hosts the lead again, 24-22. 

After Miami missed a penalty kick over the right goalpost in the 52nd minute, Storti scored a highlight-reel try, beating multiple Sharks on his way to the try zone to extend Anthem’s lead to nine. 

After Miami thought they scored in the 61st minute only to be brought back due to a forward pass, the Sharks settled for a penalty kick in the 63rd minute to cut the deficit to six. 

Clinging to their lead, Anthem desperately tried to find the try zone, but Miami held it down, and eventually, found the lead again.

In the 73rd minute, Miami used a penalty and a close line out to their advantage, pushing the pile into the try zone. The decisive conversion, from a tight angle, snuck inside the post from Martin Elias to give the Sharks a late lead.

Anthem controlled possession for the remaining eight minutes, but were unable to break the Miami lines and the close game ended 31-32 in favor of the visitors.

QUOTE:

Captain Sam Golla on his team’s performance:

“I think discipline overall is the big thing for us. We lost by one point, but we had three cards, including one by myself. Discipline in those important moments, and especially in games like this, where you know we can win and we’re up and end up shooting ourselves in the foot. I’m very proud of the boys though. massive improvement from the past two weeks.”

Game attendance: 2101