Tampere Saints stun Wasa Royals for first Maple League victory

The Tampere Saints earned their first victory of the 2026 Finnish Maple League season Thursday night, defeating the Wasa Royals on the road after controlling much of the game at Kaarle Field and capitalizing on a mistake-filled performance by the home team.

The Saints finally broke into the win column after four straight losses, while the Royals struggled to find any offensive rhythm outside of one explosive play.

Turnovers dominate early

The game opened in chaotic fashion with both teams coughing up the ball on their first offensive snap.

Mistakes continued to define the opening half as both offenses struggled to sustain drives. The Saints repeatedly found themselves in favorable field position but were unable to fully capitalize, leaving points on the field after a turnover deep in Royals territory and an unsuccessful field goal attempt.

Still, Tampere eventually broke through. Quarterback Christopher Howard connected with Kimi Tuomi for a touchdown that gave the visitors the lead after a defensive battle through much of the first half.

Just before halftime, however, the Royals found life from an unlikely source. Making his debut, newly-signed running back Loris Savalle burst through the middle of the Saints defense, turning a handoff into a 72-yard touchdown that tied the game 7-7 heading into the break.

Saints seize control

The second half belonged to the visitors.

Logan Collier provided the spark immediately after halftime with a dynamic kickoff return that set up excellent field position. The Saints quickly took advantage, and Tuomi later added his second touchdown of the night to stretch the lead.

Howard finished an efficient evening by throwing for 238 yards and two touchdowns. Tuomi was his favorite target, hauling in 127 receiving yards while accounting for both scoring catches.

The Saints also received a steady effort on the ground from Konsta Mäenpää, who carried 12 times for 24 yards, helping keep the offense balanced when needed.

Royals searching for answers

The Royals never found consistent answers offensively.

Andrew McElroy, filling in at quarterback for the injured Alexander Abbott, and who had hurt the Saints with his legs in the teams’ first meeting, was limited to just three rushing yards as Tampere took away the quarterback run game. Savalle carried much of the workload instead, finishing with 121 rushing yards on 20 carries to go along with the Royals‘ lone touchdown.

Abbott briefly returned from injury but was clearly limited, and the experiment was short-lived.

Defensively, Raul Khalifa paced the Royals with 4.5 tackles and two sacks, but the unit spent too much of the evening defending short fields.

For the Saints, Tapio Kari led the defense with 8.5 tackles while Arthur True, Juho Angervo and Lauri Illikainen all contributed up front as Tampere closed out a much-needed road victory.