Men's rugby dropped its Mid-South Conference match to Life University 31-12 Saturday night at Hunter Stadium in St. Charles, Missouri. The Lions created multiple scoring opportunities, but could not overcome the onslaught of Running Eagles defenders.
Lindenwood started the match with great energy, displaying punishing defense and crisp set pieces. Starting second row Chris Schoeman led the Lions lineout with steals on the first three Life throws. Lindenwood continued to pressure the Running Eagles, forcing them into several penalties in their own 22 meter zone. Captain Jack Huckstepp opted for set pieces instead of shots at goal, intending to pressure and break the Life defense, but handling mistakes and penalties kept the Lions from scoring the first points of the game.
Lindenwood continued to play great defense and accurate kicking from flyhalf Nick Feakes, and counterattacks from fullback Cristian Rodriguez and eight-man Wesley White kept the ball moving back into the Running Eagles half of the field, but the Lions began to struggle with set pieces. Five penalties at scrum time and losing more than half of their line-outs prevented the Lindenwood backs from developing strong attacking platforms, and quick possession turnover stunted many opportunities.
Meanwhile, Life was able to mount an attack and score through their forwards on phase play. Another gap was found off of a scrum and the Running Eagles scored another try right at halftime giving them a 14-0 lead at the break. .
The Running Eagles started the second half in a similar fashion. They found some space and their fullback crossed the line after just a minute of play to increase the advantage to 19-0.
Lindenwood regrouped, and after a turnover, White found some space on the wing and sprinted fifty meters down the right sideline to score. Eight minutes later, the forwards were piling pressure near the Life try line and White powered over for his second try. Feakes converted and the Lions were within striking distance at 19-12.
Life reasserted control of the match at that point. The Running Eagles forwards continued to run hard downhill and some gaps opened up in the Lindenwood defense. The result was two more tries from Life to open up the final margin of victory for the Running Eagles.
With the loss, Lindenwood dropped to 14-2 overall and 5-2 in the Mid-South. The Lions will wrap up conference play against Davenport University March 31 on the road in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The opening kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday night.
