Men's rugby defeated Iona College 31-0 Monday afternoon to finish third at the 2022 CRC May Madness Sevens tournament at Shrine On Airline Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana.
How it Happened:
Coming off a disappointing result in the semifinals earlier in the day, the Lions built a solid lead in the first half and then overwhelmed the Gaels on both sides of the ball in the second half. Lindenwood had a nice drive in the early stages of the match, but turned the ball over deep in Iona territory, but the Gaels returned the favor in their own end. Moments later,
Evan Williams fakes a pass and then cut through the defense to take advantage of the short field to give the Lions a 5-0 lead at the two-minute mark.
Iona put another nice series of phases together to push well into Lindenwood territory, but aided by some great defense from
Nick Hardrict, II, the Lions forced a turnover at the five-minute mark. Hardrict, II was ultimately rewarded for his efforts when he broke free down the left sideline for a try. With a successful conversion, Lindenwood went to the break leading 12-0.
The Lions speed and physical play took over in the second half. Williams blitzed right through the middle of the Gaels defense and dotted down under the posts less than a minute in. He booted the conversion for a 19-0 Lindenwood advantage. More Hardrict, II defense forced another turnover about a minute later and Williams earned his third try with a run of 75-meters to put the Lions ahead 26-0. The final score of the contest came at the 12-minute mark after Lindenwood stole possession from a scrum.
Clement Quaicoe darted to the left corner to make it 31-0.
Lindenwood was pushed into the third-place game earlier in the day after falling to Kutztown University in the semifinals in extra time 24-19. The Lions had their hands full heading into the match as the Golden Bears had been rolling through the bracket. It would take a strong effort to slow them down, but Kutztown had other ideas and took control early. Lindenwood was behind 19-5 with only a few minutes remaining in the game when tries from
Shiven Dukhande and Williams, along with two clutch conversions evened things up.
With the score tied 19-19 and regulation time exhausted, the match went into extra time. An errant restart kick from the Lions went out of bounds giving the ball to the physical Golden Bears side. They strung together numerous phases and pushed the ball over the try line for a 24-19 victory.
The 32-team premier men's bracket began Saturday evening for Lindenwood against James Madison University. The Lions controlled the ball and played stifling defense to get a 31-5 victory over the Dukes.
The round of 16 match-up pitted Lindenwood against Notre Dame on Sunday morning. The Fighting Irish displayed a more physical and tenacious attack, but the Lions defense continued to hold strong. Lindenwood finished with a 26-12 win to advance to the quarterfinals later that day.
Wheeling University awaited the Lions after upsetting St. Bonaventure in the previous round, but Lindenwood fired on all cylinders with two tries from
Morgan Purcell and excellent restarts from Williams to take down the Cardinals 29-7.
What's Next:
The Lions finished with a 4-1 record at the tournament which marked the end of the season. Lindenwood posted an overall mark of 41-5 in all 15's and sevens competition for 2021-22.
Lindenwood CRC Roster: 
1
Rhys Smith
2
Tyren Al-Jiboori
3
Morgan Purcell
4 Nick Hardrict II
5 Clem Quaicoe
6
Calvin Ihrig
7
Kyle Liebenberg
8
Neal Moylett
9
Evan Conlon
10
Duncan Krige
11
Evan Williams
12 Johnathan Stewart
13
Stephen Alberts
14
Ryan Denvir
15
Shiven Dukhande
Lions CRC Match Summary:
Round 1: Lindenwood defeats James Madison University 31-5
Round 2: Lindenwood defeats the University of Notre Dame 26-12
Round 3: Lindenwood defeats Wheeling University 29-7
Semifinals: Lindenwood falls to Kutztown 24-19
Third Place: Lindenwood defeats Iona College 31-0
