Men's rugby held off a vastly improved Arkansas State squad 36-32 Saturday night in a Mid-South Conference match at Hunter Stadium in St. Charles, Missouri.
The Red Wolves brought an attacking game plan that dominated the early running and seemed to catch the Lions napping. The varied strategy resulted in an early try and penalty kick to give Arkansas State and early 8-0 advantage.
The Red Wolves had some other early opportunities, but dropped passes and an opportune Lindenwood defense kept them from adding to the lead. The Lions attack found more success at about the 15-minute mark and a drive moved into the red zone. Eight man Wesley White put Lindenwood on the board after he picked from the base of the scrum and beat both the opposing scrumhalf and wing to the corner. The ensuing conversion pulled the Lions to within a point.
The Lindenwood forward pack earned a penalty after a beautifully formed maul off a lineout. The big boys drove about 15 meters and looked like they were going to score when ASU illegally pulled down the maul. The kick was successful, to push the Lions ahead 10-8.
Moments later, Lindenwood again pushed the Red Wolves deep and applied defensive pressure. Arkansas State launched an ill-advised kick that wing Deion Mikesell took to the zone for another Lions try. Up 17-8 late in the half, it looked like Lindenwood had gained control, but that proved false when the Lions turned over possession multiple times, which allowed the Red Wolves to push deep into the Lindenwood end of the pitch. After a series of tight plays, ASU took advantage of some space on the wing and scored after time had expired. The Lions led 17-13 at the break.
The second half began at a fast pace. Lindenwood was unable to secure possession in multiple phases of the game and the Red Wolves capitalized with two tries and conversions in the first five minutes to take the lead. The Lions quickly responded with a cutting run from White who dotted down, but ASU still held a 27-22 advantage.
The defenses finally stiffened a bit and the match became more physical, so much so that the reserve eight-man for the Red Wolves threw a huge overhand punch at White. After a scuffle that involved most players on the team, both players received red cards.
The match resumed with 14 per side. Moments later, Lindenwood retook the lead with a hard, rambling run from center JP Aguirre Romero and the successful conversion from flylhalf Nick Feakes made the score 29-27 Lions.
There was no more scoring until the last five minutes when reserve center Connor Burns put fullback Cristian Rodriguez into space. Rodriguez scored and Feakes converted. It looked like Lindenwood had sealed a win at 36-27, but Arkansas State had other ideas, and roared right back at the Lions, securing possession on the restart and taking it 40 meters in one phase for a try to pull within four points.
With less than a minute on the clock, ASU regained possession and aided by Lindenwood penalties, drove the ball to within 15 meters of the try line, but aggressive defense from reserve flanker Colten Hernandez led to a dropped ball. Feakes kicked it out of play to end the match. .
Head Coach Josh Macy applauded the victory, but pointed out several shortcomings.
"We were lucky to eke out a win in what was arguably our worst performance of the season," he said. "We'll use this match as a learning opportunity to build for the rest of the conference season and the playoffs."
With the victory, Lindenwood improved to 12-1 in collegiate play overall and 4-1 in the Mid-South. The Lions have two matches over the weekend. They will travel across the river to face Lindenwood – Belleville at 6 p.m. March 9 in Belleville, Illinois, and then host Davenport University in another conference tilt March 10 starting at 7 p.m. at Hunter Stadium in St. Charles, Missouri.
