In their fifth match of the season, the Lions prevailed over Central Washington 29-14 Saturday night at Hunter Stadium in St. Charles, Missouri.  Lindenwood used set piece dominance and a quick strike attack to defeat the Goff Rugby Report No. 4 team in the country.  
 
The Lions took advantage of an early Wildcats miscue on the opening kickoff.  CWU mishandled the ball and Lindenwood grabbed it and spun it wide to Morgan Purcell, who broke the line and took the team to a couple of meters from the try line.  Loose head prop Liam Smith crashed over for the score moments later to give the Lions the lead in the first minute of the match.  The Wildcats fumble would be a harbinger of things to come as set piece inaccuracy plagued them the rest of the game, creating a solid platform for Lindenwood all night.
 
As the match progressed, the Lions maul was met strongly by Central Washington. The Wildcats broke up several of them, but struggled to get much going off of their own line out as it was continually harassed by Marnus Spangenberg and first side debutant Juan Mota Sanchez. 
 
Mota Sanchez had this to say about his line out performance. 

"Defensively, we wanted to build confidence as soon as possible," he said. "They had three good jumpers and we knew we had to mirror them and contest everything. We created a lot of pressure and the turnovers were really satisfying." 
 
The lead increased to 14-0 for Lindenwood in the 22nd minute when Connor Burns became the benefactor of a couple of phases from wide play from the Lions.  While the backs often score out wide, in this case, some nifty handling from hooker Miguel Bermejo Arcos and eight-man Tinashe Muchena set the backs loose in space through the middle.  
 
Despite the running rugby, the match proved to be the most physical one the Lions have played this season.  Long days with defense coach Jimmy Harrison were a saving grace as the Wildcats constantly challenged the gain line on both attack and defense. 
 
Hard hitting loose head prop Liam Smith acknowledged the effort from Central Washington.

"They didn't fly all the way to Missouri to let us run all over them," he said.  "We had our work cut out for us with the physicality they brought. They kept strong and didn't stop hammering away. Credit to the CWU boys, they showed up to play." 
 
The Lions enjoyed another strong performance from winger Morgan Purcell, who caught a floated pass from Evan Williams over his shoulder to score before half time.  He then exhibited some classy finishing skills just four minutes into the second half to fly into the corner for another try.   
 
"Once again we showed just how dangerous our backline can be. Especially when the ball comes wide," Purcell commented. 
 
The Wildcats continued to fight through the remainder of the game and earned two late tries due to a climbing Lindenwood penalty count.  

Lindenwood will need to address the quality of play from their substitutes as they host Life University at home March 20.  The Running Eagles will arrive still feeling the sting of a 45-27 loss February 20 in Marietta, Georgia. The win was the first ever for the Lions over Life in fifteens play.   

In that match, the Lions enjoyed dominance over the line out and contact area, something that the Running Eagles surely addressed in the past month.  The Lindenwood lineup will look similar for the rematch, but the all-important bench will likely be shaken up as the medical team addresses some of the banged-up bodies after a very physical month of matches for the Lions.

The opening kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday night at Hunter Stadium in St. Charles, Missouri.  You can catch all of the action on the Lindenwood University Rugby YouTube channel.  Attendance is limited with passes only available through players.