Women's rugby added to the team trophy case by earning a third straight title with a 24-7 victory against Dartmouth Sunday afternoon in the finals at the USA Rugby Women's Collegiate D1 Elite National Championship at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Arizona. 

In a rematch against a team that had beaten them in pool play, the Lions struck first in the title match with back-to-back tries from Dimeken Paogofie-Buyten in the third minute and Teresa Bueso Gomez in the sixth minute.  AnnaKaren Pedraza slotted the conversion after the second score for a 12-0 advantage.  That's where things stood at the break, but Dartmouth closed the gap to just five points early in the second half with a converted try.  Lindenwood responded three minutes later when Caring De Freitas dotted down, followed by another boot from Pedraza to build the lead back to 19-7.  De Freitas scored again in the final two minutes to seal the victory, and was ultimately named the Most Valuable Player for the championship.

Senior captain AnnaKaren Pedraza summed up her feelings about the title.

"This result and opportunity was the best way to end one of the greatest journeys in my life," she said.  "I couldn't be more grateful for the teammates, coaches, and our support over the past few years."

Lindenwood advanced to the Cup Final with a 36-7 win over Harvard in the semifinals.  Another quick start made the ultimate outcome apparent by halftime as the Lions posted 19 unanswered points.  Tries came from De Freitas, Sativa Tarau-Peehikuru, and Paogofie-Buyten with two conversions off the foot of Pedraza.  Lindenwood added another converted score from Bueso Gomez early in the second half before the Crimson broke the shutout in the 10^th minute to make it 26-7.  The Lions finished the contest in convincing fashion with tries from Kodi Barlow and Meg Gold in the final minute.

Lindenwood began competition at the championship by posting a 2-1 record in Pool B on Saturday.  The Lions did not yield a single point through the first two games, beginning with a 36-0 shutout over American International College (AIC).  Barlow scored twice in the first half as Lindenwood built a 19-0 advantage.  De Freitas accounted for the other try and Richelle Stephens and Pedraza each slotted a conversion.  The Lions added three more scores in the second half, coming from Aniya Matina, Bueso Gomez, and Paogofie-Buyten.

Lindenwood continued an impressive run in pool play with a 34-0 win over Penn State.  Another quick start gave the Lions a 24-0 lead at halftime.  Paogofie-Buyten accounted for two tries, while Barlow and Tarau-Peehikuru each scored once.  Two conversions came from the foot of Stephens.  With a comfortable advantage, Head Coach Billy Nicholas was able to get several players off the bench into action, but Lindenwood still kept the offense going, with two more scores in the second half, the first coming from De Freitas and the second from McKenzie Hawkins.

In the final game of pool play on Saturday, the Lions fell to Dartmouth 15-12.  The Big Green jumped in front in the first minute and then added another try in the fourth minute to take a 10-0 lead, but Lindenwood answered in the final moments of the half with a Barlow try in the sixth minute, converted by Pedraza, and a Tarau-Peehikuru score in the seventh minute.  That gave the Lions a 12-10 advantage at halftime.  Dartmouth began the second half with a quick score to regain the lead 15-12, and held on for the win, aided by a Lindenwood yellow card in the 12^th minute.

Coach Billy Nicholas was complementary of the Big Green.

"Dartmouth is a great program and we were really impressed by their competitiveness in the pool play game," he said.  "We were 2-0 at the time and our goal was to keep our legs as fresh as possible for the semifinals the next day, so we accomplished that goal and learned some lessons that we could carry with us.  I'm really happy with the team's resilience."

In addition to winning three straight USA Rugby collegiate sevens titles, the Lions have claimed both the USA Rugby collegiate 15's and sevens titles in the same season for two years in a row.  They have also won five straight national level championships in a row including the Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC 7's) title in 2018.  Lindenwood will try to make it six straight when they return to Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pennsylvania for the 2019 CRC 7's event May 31 to June 2.