Men's rugby defeated Central Washington 27-15 Saturday afternoon at the Wildcat Rugby Pitch in Ellensburg, Washington.
 
Sloppy conditions led to an ugly game where the fifth ranked Lions struggled to finish scoring chances against the No. 18 ranked Wildcats.  With the offense somewhat stagnated, a powerful scrum led by Man-of-the-Match Chance Wenglewski, and a tough defense, kept Lindenwood ahead during the entire contest. 
 
Scoring started in the sixth minute when Wesley White touched down a push over try for a 5-0 lead.  The Lions backline peppered the Wildcats with kicks, pinning them deep in Central Washington territory, and that was a theme for the match as almost half of the Wildcats possession took place inside the 22-meter zone.
 
Fly half Nick Feakes, who was aggressive in attack nearly entire game, scored the second Lindenwood try in the 14^th minute and converted it himself for a 12-0 advantage, but the home team did not submit.  Just a few minutes later, Central Washington Eight Man Alex Mackenzie scored through a well-chased kick that the Lions failed to clear.  With the conversion, the Wildcats cut the Lindenwood lead to 12-7.
 
As the buzzer sounded for the end of the first half, wing Deion Mikesell touched down through a long cross kick from Feakes. The scoring play started in the other end of the field with a slurry of muddy carries by the forwards. Flankers Matias Kalm and Michael de Waal each broke the line and nearly scored before Feakes put up his bomb to Mikesell.  At the break, the Lions led 17-7.
 
Early in the second half, Lindenwood showed some signs of fatigue as Central Washington scored a try and a penalty to close the gap to 17-15.
 
Starting scrum half Josh Wells noted the lapse.
 
"Playing in the mud made it a little difficult to organize our defense and that's so important in our system," he said.  "We were just trying to fly up and stop them from taking an inch."
 
Lindenwood turned that defense into attack as Jimmy Lillis touched down in the 53^rd minute to make the score 22-15.  Reserves Connor Burns and Ashley Harrop brought on more attacking power as substitutes in the back line.
 
Harrop finished a well-worked try from first phase with only 15 minutes to go to seal the victory.
 
After the long trip home from the West Coast, Head Coach Josh Macy was optimistic about the upcoming conference season.
 
"It's not easy to put those kind of miles behind you and play your best," he said.  "But, the guys gave us a ton of effort and while we clearly came away with a list of things to work on, it's always nice to start with a win."
 
The team will travel to Clemson, South Carolina February 3 to begin the Mid-South Conference season against Clemson University.  The opening kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon.