Army handed the Lions their first loss of the season 26-17 Friday night at the Anderson Rugby Complex in West Point, New York.
Before the match began, the Black Knights had a presentation to honor their former rugby players who lost their lives in battle. With the stands filled to capacity and spectators overflowing behind the try zones, it created an emotional atmosphere throughout the evening and provided some perspective for the actual match.
Early in the contest, Lindenwood did a great job of applying pressure to the Army defense, but the Lions couldn't score. Wet field conditions and a fast Black Knights defense shut Lindenwood out of scoring opportunities throughout the match, but Army managed to score the first try, and followed with a successful conversion for a 7-0 lead.
Moments later,
Rhys Smith put the Lions on the scoreboard when he split the posts for a penalty conversion to bring Lindenwood back within four points, but the Lions continued to have trouble keeping possession and also struggled to field kicks. The Black Knights took advantage and built a 19-3 advantage.
After getting
Shiven Dukhande back from a yellow card, Lindenwood scored its first try of the night when
William Whiteside won a five-meter lineout and
Runako Brynard mauled over the line to cut the deficit to 19-10 at the half.
After the break, Army added points quickly to build back a 16-point lead. A late try from
Neal Moylett pulled the Lions to within nine points, but the score remained 26-17 from there until the final whistle.
After the match, team captain Marnus Spangenburg addressed his team.
"Tonight, was not our night. No matter what we did, we kept getting in our own way and allowed Army to have their way with us," he said. "But, this is not the end of our season, and this is in fact a great opportunity to see where we are as a team and what we need to work on. This was a great test and a great lesson for us."
Men's rugby plays its first match of the season in the Mid-South Conference on the road against Davenport University November 20. The opening kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Saturday afternoon at Student Center Field in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
