Men's rugby stifled the Arkansas State offense to claim a 16-0 shutout against the Red Wolves Saturday afternoon at Hunter Stadium in St. Charles, Missouri.
The match featured a large amount of scrums and lineouts in the first 15 minutes before the Lions were able to get into a better flow. That resulted in a couple of penalty kick opportunities that fullback
Evan Williams converted, but neither offense was able to actually cross the try line and the first half ended with Lindenwood ahead 6-0.
A more determined Lions squad showed up in the second half with relentless defense from the majority of the Lindenwood forward pack.
Marnus Spangenberg and
Emmanuel Albert continued to make hard yards to keep the Lions offense pushing forward. Within striking distance, a nifty back move ultimately helped center
Connor Burns slide into the try zone to increase the advantage to 11-0. Arkansas State continued to pound away, but reserves
Liam Smith,
Wes Parker, and
Ayden Hurst threw their weight into the fray to keep moving the Red Wolves backwards.
As the clock ticked closer to full time, reserve center
Lorenzo Thomas made a great move and then fed the ball to
Stephen McLeish, who side-stepped his way into the try zone for a 16-0 lead. Arkansas State continued to mount a strong attack, but the Lions defense was equal to the task.
With the victory, Lindenwood improved to 17-3 overall on the season and they avenged an earlier setback when the two teams clashed in Jonesboro, Arkansas back in February. The Lions will return to the pitch on March 22 when they travel across town to face Lindenwood – Belleville at 7 p.m. in Belleville, Illinois. The Lions will then host Life University March 23 at 7 p.m. at Hunter Stadium in St. Charles, Missouri.
Earlier in the afternoon on Saturday, the Lindenwood second XV defeated the Arkansas State second side 32-5. The young Lions played well together and took advantage of an inexperienced Red Wolves squad.
From the first kickoff, Lindenwood appeared to have a more cohesive game plan. The forwards made the hard yards while the backs worked the ball through the hands of center
Nick Taylor to dangerous men out wide like wing
Tyren Al-Jiboori, who demonstrated his speed and elusiveness to score the first try of the contest.
Pounding runs from number eight Drake Humphrey and prop Gabe Kettering moved the Lions into positive positions. The forwards asserted their will on the Red Wolves pack and tries were scored through second row Gabe Rendon and flanker
Joshua Bailey.
Dale Sullivan was clinical kicking out of hand and off of the tee to slot both conversions and two penalties for a 25-0 lead.
A few of the Lions reserves entered the game, but second row
Jonah Dietenberger stood out with some immense carries that moved the offense behind the Arkansas State defense.
Deven Mason was also a factor with a try and conversion to increase the advantage to 32-0. The Red Wolves continued to work and eventually converted possession and territory into a try to break the shutout late in the match.
