September 7, 2002
On an unseasonably hot day at Fort Snelling the Saint Paul Pigs opened their 2002 league campaign with a 22-10 loss to a veteran Des Moines side. After some early pressure by the Pigs mistakes began to take their toll, and 2 Des Moines tries (one converted) held up at half time for a 12-0 Des Moines lead.
The second half started slowly before the action picked up in the last 20 minutes. First Des Moines scored their 3rd try to push the lead to 17-0. Then, after some sustained pressure, the Pigs persistence finally paid off and Grizzly Malchow was able to break a couple of tackles for a try that cut the lead to 17-5. Des Moines came back with their final try of the day a few minutes later, however to make it 22-5. The Pigs continued to pressure, and a strong back line move finally paid off with Grant Dietrich touching down in the corner to make it 22-10.
Unfortunately, it was too little too late, and the match ended with a final score of 22-10.
Pigs’ Lineup
1-Luke Utting(Ben Hanson),2-Danny Kiefer(Tom Rubey),3-Pieter Venter(Jason Kemp),4-Leon DeLange(Jason Naber),5-Grizzly Malchow,6-Jaco Swanepoel,7-Zach Bauer,8-Mike Hankee,9-Brandon Johnson(Jason Rombalski),10-Bill Bridgeman(Pio Piliami),11-Jaffrey Blanks,12-Scott Colby,13-Will Bryant,14-Brett Carter(Eugene Dunn),15-Grant Dietrich
Scoring
Des Moines 22 – 4 tries, 1 conversion
Saint Paul 10 – 2 tries (Malchow, Dietrich)