Men's rugby earned a solid 27-10 road victory over Army Saturday afternoon at the Anderson Rugby Complex in West Point, New York. 

The Black Knights took an early lead through a superb maul and some bullying forward movement, but the Lions responded with powerful play from the forwards and superior skill from the back line.  Hooker Kayleb O'Donoghue finished off a series of aggressive mauls with a try, and shortly thereafter, number eight Tinashe Muchena bulled through the Army defense for another score.  Flyhalf Andreas Livadaras converted for a 12-5 Lindenwood lead.   

The scoreboard stayed the same until just before halftime when the Lions defense forced a turnover, moved the ball wide, and center Tyren Al-Jiboori put fullback Connor Burns through a gap.  Burns raced 65 meters to give Lindenwood a 17-5 advantage at the break. 

The Lions offense was a bit stagnant at the beginning of the second half, but eventually wing Cael Hodgson used some nice footwork to score on the edge.  The Black Knights countered with a try through their forwards to make it 22-10, but Lindenwood controlled the contest after that.  Freshman winger Morgan Purcell sealed the win with a score for the final margin.

In other action later in the afternoon, the second XV also earned a win over Army 36-22.  In an inconsistent effort, the Lions showed brilliant pieces of play dotted with some mental lapses and handling mistakes.   

Lindenwood started fast with tries from Ryan Denvir and Jake Jacobson. Army pushed in a try and then center Charles Ebert answered back for the Lions.

The second half saw mostly positive play from the Lions as they piled pressure on Army in the right areas of the pitch. Jacobson converted that pressure into his second try of the day.  Reserve second row William Whiteside looped around the backs to score on the edge and put Lindenwood ahead 29-10.

Some questionable defense was displayed in the final 10 minutes with both teams moving up and down the field.  The Black Knights added two tries while reserve halfback Evan Conlon dotted down the Lions.  A successful conversion gave Lindenwood the final margin of victory.

Men's rugby will stay close to home at Ruggerfest October 18-19 at Forest Park in St. Louis, Missouri.