Men's rugby suffered its second straight loss with a 31-20 defeat on the road Saturday afternoon at Lupo Family Field in Marietta, Georgia. Byron Forword accounted for 10 points while Eduan van Heerden was a physical presence for the Lions defense.
 
How it Happened: 
Lindenwood took a 3-0 lead eight minutes into the match when Forword connected on a penalty kick, but Life answered with a try five minutes later and built a 7-3 advantage with a successful conversion.
 
The scoreboard flipped in favor of the Lions again when Jeremy Zwick scored under the post after providing support for an offload in the 19^th minute. Forword booted the conversion for a 10-7 lead. As the tide continued to switch back and forth, the Running Eagles recaptured the advantage with an unconverted try in the 28^th minute, but Forword booted another penalty kick six minutes later and Lindenwood carried a 13-12 lead into the break.
 
The Lions extended that advantage seven minutes into the second half. After Stephin Alberts chipped a kick over the defensive line, Bautista Nasta gathered the ball, shook off a defender, and accelerated around the edge to score near the corner. Forword slotted a difficult conversion for a 20-12 Lindenwood lead.

It looked like the Lions had decent control of the match, but Life had other ideas and answered  
with an unconverted try just two minutes later. The Running Eagles continued their comeback with a 20-meter dash after picking the ball off the back of the ruck. With the conversion, it was 24-20 in favor of Life with 15-minutes remaining.
 
The Running Eagles sealed the 31-20 victory eight minutes later with a converted try that came from five meters on the back of a maul.
 
Other Matches:
In a battle of 2^nd XV squads, Life University prevailed 22-8. Carter Brenneman was a force in the scrum for Lindenwood and David Cathcart made his presence known with his defensive effort and hard running on attack.
 
Player Quote:

Stephin Alberts: "Failure in rugby is natural, so we'll learn from this game as we do from all of our other short comings and continue to build on what we have laid out for the rest of season. This isn't the end; it's far from it, and we'll continue to fight and work even harder to make sure it doesn't happen again, because that's what a Lindenwood Lion does."
 
What's Next?
The Lions put their 3-0 record in Midwest Rugby Conference (MRC) play on the line when they host Davenport University March 2. Lindenwood defeated the Panthers on the road 24-20 back in early November. The opening kickoff for the rematch is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday at Hunter Stadium in St. Charles, Missouri.
 
 
Scoring Summary:
8' Lindenwood Penalty Kick Byron Forword 3-0
13' Life Try 3-5
13' Life Conversion 3-7
19' Lindenwood Try Jeremy Zwick 8-7
19' Lindenwood Conversion Byron Forword 10-7
28' Life Try 10-12
34' Lindenwood Penalty Kick Byron Forword 13-12
47' Lindenwood Try Bautista Nasta 18-12
48' Lindenwood Conversion Byron Forword 20-12
50' Life Try 20-17
64' Life Try 20-22
65' Life Conversion 20-24
73' Life Try 20-29
74' Life Conversion 20-31
 
Lineup:

1. Chad Tinney
2. Christopher Wallace
3. Connor Devos
4. Eduan van Heerden
5. Le'Donn Mathis
6. Alejandro Martinez Tapia
7. Calvin Ihrig
8. Duncan Krige
9. Jeremy Zwick
10. Byron Forword
11. Jared de Jager
12. Declan Ries
13. Stephin Alberts
14. Boutista Nasta
15. Kobe Millar
16. Mark Barbour
17. Asher Webb
18. Luke Schaefer
19. Neil Milczarek
20. David Scanlon
21. Jack Johnson
22. Jack McAlister
23. Jaryd de Jager