In front of one of the largest crowds to ever see a Lindenwood men’s rugby game, the Lions fell to the top ranked division 1A Arkansas State Red Wolves 26-15 Saturday night at Harlen C. Hunter Stadium. 

The crowd, which was filled with numerous high school teams in town for a local tournament, was treated to a physical contest and hardly any scoring for the first half, as Lindenwood shut out a potent Red Wolves attack.  Morgan Findlay accounted for the only points in the first 40 minutes as he took advantage of some space and crossed the try line, giving the Lions a 5-0 lead at the break.

Arkansas State turned the tables in the first two minutes of the second half by taking advantage of a Lindenwood miscue.  The resulting try and conversion gave the Red Wolves a 7-5 lead and they poured it on from there.  Two more scores increased the Arkansas State lead to 19-5 before Sebastian Kalm answered back with a try in the corner of the zone, but the angle of the conversion proved difficult and the Lions settled for a 19-10 deficit. 

The two teams traded scores down the stretch with the final Lindenwood try coming from Findlay after Kalm opened some space against the defense.

The Lions have one more regular season game against Kansas at home April 13 before the Division 1-AA playoffs begin the last weekend of the month.  Lindenwood secured its spot after clinching the Heart of America Rugby Football Union three weeks ago.  Game time for the contest against the Jayhawks is set for 1 p.m. on the pitch at the Lindenwood Track.  It will be the final home game for the senior class which includes the likes of Trevor Locke, Jake O’Neill, Zach Bollman and several more.

In other action over the weekend, for the second year in a row, the Lions won the collegiate division at the annual St. Louis Ruggerfest Tournament in Maryland Heights, Mo.  Competing with the B team, Lindenwood won two matches on Saturday, then defeated Missouri S & T 29-0 in the semifinals and topped Saint Louis University 73-10 in the finals on Sunday. 

Center Stephen Duff scored 25 points in the championship with three tries and five conversions.  Fullback Jacques Van den Bergh and wing Prince Russell added two tries each and Daniel Kerckhoff, Jake O’Neill, Dylan Latham and Justin Mathis each scored once.  Jordan Schmitz provided solid leadership as the team captain for the weekend.