After leading for most of the game, the Lions fell to the University of Central Florida 27-25 in the final seconds of the 2013 USA Rugby Division I-AA National Championship Sunday afternoon at Cochrane Stadium in Bowling Green, Ohio.

Lindenwood fell behind less than two minutes into the match when Central Florida intercepted a clearing kick by the Lions and turned up the pitch for a try and successful conversion to take a 7-0 lead.  The Lions responded quickly when UCF was called for a penalty with Lindenwood threatening near the goal line.  Sophomore fullback Morgan Findlay buried the penalty kick between the uprights to cut the Knights' lead to 7-3. Shortly after, Findlay scored a try in the far corner of the in-goal area to put Lindenwood up 8-7.  

The game then switched to a defensive battle in which both teams exchanged big hits and limited chances.  Lindenwood utilized strong defense to spark the offense when James Poli jarred the ball loose and ran into the UCF territory and drew a penalty on the play.  Findlay punted the penalty kick between the uprights to give Lindenwood an 11-7 lead at the 23 minute mark.

The Knights drew a penalty kick of their own to narrow the Lions' lead to one with 8 minutes remaining in the first half.  The Lions stretched the lead late in the half when Mathius Harris broke wide and raced past the UCF defenders for a try.  Findlay converted the kick as time expired in the half with Lions holding an 18-10 lead.

The Knights came out strong in the second half but the Lindenwood defense kept UCF in the middle of the field.  The Lions' big hits on the UCF ignited cheers from the crowd of LU fans at Cochrane Stadium.  Central Florida finally capitalized on a scoring chance 15 minutes into the second half when UCF downed a try to make it 18-15.  

Cody Schwahn extended the Lindenwood advantage streaking across the pitch and into the in-goal area to make it 25-15 with 20 minutes remaining in the game.  The Knights again made it a one-possession game with another try and successful conversion kick with 15:35 remaining in the match.

The Knights continued to pressure Lindenwood in the waning minutes of the contest and shutdown the Lions' offense.  In the final minute of play, the Knights defense forced a lineout to regain the ball and get into scoring position. UCF spread the pitch and finally broke through a gap in the Lion's defense to score a try as the clock struck 0:00 and win the match 27-25. 

The loss to the University of Central Florida broke Lindenwood's undefeated streak of nine postseason games over the program's two-year history. The Lions reached the championship game in back-to-back seasons, winning the Division II title in 2012 before claiming the Division 1-AA runner-up finish in 2013.

This season, Lindenwood went undefeated in Heart of America Rugby Football Union competition and concluded the team's first Division-I campaign with a 12-4 record.