Men's Rugby 10/9/2023 5:28:00 PM

Men’s Rugby Handles the KC Blues 53-17

Men's rugby notched its first road victory of the year against the Kansas City Blue RFC 53-17 Saturday afternoon at the KC Soccer Training Complex in Kansas City, Missouri. Xavier Herbert, Lautaro Soto Ansay, and Guillermo Bilbao each scored two tries, while props Emmett Bock and Asher Webb asserted themselves in the scrum against a much larger opposing front row.

How it Happened:
The Lions took an early 7-0 lead early in the match when they earned a center scrum 22-meters out. Soto Ansay ran a short line and broke the defense for the score at the five-minute mark. Tyresse Prescod successfully booted the ensuing conversion.

Moments later, they went straight into their maul shape after a five-meter lineout. After showing great team patience, Herbert crossed over the line for a 14-0 lead after another Prescod conversion.

Lindenwood made it 19-0 when Herbert received a perfectly timed offload out on the edge from Soto Ansay and outran the defense in the 24^th minute.

After an unconverted Soto Ansay try that put the Lions ahead 24-0 in the 32^nd minute, Herbert was out wide again in open space. He could have easily walked in for his third try of the day, but unselfishly offloaded to Bautista Nasta for the five points. That gave Lindenwood a 29-0 lead at the break.

As the second half unfolded, Bilbao scored the first of his two tries in the 47^th minute, followed by a William Bentley conversion to make it 36-0. The Blues finally broke the shutout when the Lindenwood defense was called for hand in the ruck 35-meters out. KC slotted the penalty kick to make it 36-3.

After the Blues earned their first try in the 60^th minute and converted it, Mark Barbour answered with an unconverted effort just two-minutes later and it was 41-10 in favor of the Lions. Bilbao again crossed the try line when a well-executed dummy pass moved the defense enough for him to find a crease. A quick sprint to the endzone gave Lindenwood a 46-10 advantage in the 64^th minute.

Each squad scored a converted try in the final 10-minutes of the match, with the Lions offense coming from Jaryd de Jager, resulting in the final margin for Lindenwood.

What's Next?
The Lions have a double-header scheduled on October 12 as they travel across town to face Washington University at 12 p.m. at South Campus Field in St. Louis. That will be followed by their first game in the Midwest Conference versus McKendree University at 6 p.m. at Leemon Field in Lebanon, Illinois.

Scoring Summary:
5' Lindenwood Try Lautaro Soto Ansay 5-0
5' Lindenwood Conversion Tyresse Prescod 7-0
13' Lindenwood Try Xavier Herbert 12-0
14' Lindenwood Conversion Tyresse Prescod 14-0
24' Lindenwood Try Xavier Herbert 19-0
32' Lindenwood Try Lautaro Soto Ansay 24-0
37' Lindenwood Try Bautista Nasta 29-0
47' Lindenwood Try Guillermo Bilbao 34-0
48' Lindenwood Try Conversion William Bentley 36-0
52' Kansas City Penalty Kick 36-3
60' Kansas City Try 36-8
61' Kansas City Conversion 36-10
62' Lindenwood Try Mark Barbour 41-10
64' Lindenwood Try Guillermo Bilbao 46-10
71' Lindenwood Try Jaryd de Jager 51-10
72' Lindenwood Conversion William Bentley 53-10
78' Kansas City Try 53-15
80' Kansas City Conversion 53-17

Lineup: