Men's rugby earned its second straight victory in the Mid-South Conference (MSC) with a 36-10 win over Davenport Saturday afternoon at Hunter Stadium in St. Charles, Missouri. The Lions controlled the contest in most aspects, particularly in scrums, field territory, and set piece movements. Stephin Alberts and Tyren Al-Jiboori each scored twice while Nick Hardrict, II scored once. 
 
How it Happened:   
The match started as a tense, physical battle with both teams feeling each other out and fighting for territory for the first 15 minutes. Eventually the Lions earned a lineout in Panthers territory. Rhys Smith took the ball towards the goal line and offloaded to Runako Brynard who was slicing through the Panther backline. Brynard then tossed a long pass to Alberts who raced ahead of the defense for the first try of the match. With a Matteo Peignon conversion, Lindenwood led 7-0.
 
After the two squads traded penalty kicks, the Lions in the 22^nd minute and Davenport 10 minutes later, Lindenwood had another opportunity to display their dominance in the scrums by forcing the visiting pack to retreat. The forwards took care of their jobs, allowing the ball to be passed wide to a waiting Al-Jiboori who scored his first try of the match, giving the Lions a 15-3 advantage in the 37^th minute. 
 
The score remained the same until the end of the first half. The message during the break from the Lindenwood coaching staff was simply to continue to outwork the opposition in the scrum and raise the physicality on the defensive side. 
 
That message was well-received. Moments into the second half, another Lions scrum drove the Panthers backwards 10 meters before Peignon passed the ball from the moving pack. With two phases, the ball reached both edges before Rhys Smith found Alberts breaking the line for his second try of the evening. Another successful Peignon conversion gave Lindenwood a 22-3 lead in the 55^th minute.  
 
In an effort to prevent being penalized in the scrum, Davenport resorted to moving the ball out as quickly as possible. With a scrum 15-meters out, the Lions forward pack sensed the rush, and as they had all match, again forced a retreat from the Panthers disrupting the pass from the scrumhalf. In the midst of a charging Lindenwood defensive line, Rhys Smith laid a crushing hit on the Davenport center, jarring the ball loose. A quick scoop from Alberts and an offload to Al-Jiboori put the wing over the line for his second try of the match. The ensuing Peignon conversion opened up a commanding 29-3 lead in the 61^st minute. 
 
The Panthers did eventually score about nine minutes later when they executed some trickery in the lineout and found a gap to run through for a 20-meter try. A successful conversion made it 29-10, but that was a close as Davenport would get from there. 
 
With about six minutes remaining, Hardrict, II dotted down in the corner for the final try of the match. William Groves booted a tough sideline conversion to make the score 36-10, where it would remain until the final whistle. 
 
Player Thoughts: 
Senior Rhys Smith (Captain): "We went into the match focusing on playing our style of game. We kept a 0-0 score mindset and never let ourselves get too high or too low. As a collective, we really executed this mindset." 
 
Junior Alejandro Martinez Tapia: "The match started physical and aggressive. Our defensive set has been improving and we all believe we can continue to improve. Scrums played a critical role in our game plan, and as a pack we all contributed as a unit." 
  
What's Next:   
With the win, Lindenwood improved to 3-1 in the MSC and to 15-2 overall on the season. The Lions return to the pitch March 18 for an MSC rematch against Life University, the team that gave Lindenwood its lone conference loss. The D1A Match-of-the Week will be streamed on the Rugby Network with the opening kickoff set for 4 p.m. that Saturday afternoon at Hunter Stadium. 
    
Starting Lineup:    

1. Chad Tinney – 49' Asher Webb 
2. Christopher Wallace – 66' Mark Barbour 
3. Connor Devos – 59' Setu Vole 
4. Eduan van Heerden - 56' Calvin Ihrig   
5. Alejandro Martinez Tapia – 58' Le'Donn Mathis 
6. Cian Darling – 54' Duncan Krige 
7. Runako Brynard  
8. Dylan Fortune   
9. Matteo Peignon - 66' Jeremy Zwick  
10. William Groves    
11. Tyren Al-Jiboori 
12. Rhys Smith 
13. Stephin Alberts – 66' Kobe Millar 
14. Nick Hardrict, II  
15. Brendan Mason 

    
Scoring Summary:    
16' Lindenwood Try Stephin Alberts 5-0 
16' Lindenwood Conversion Matteo Peignon 7-0 
22' Lindenwood Penalty Kick 10-0 
32' Davenport Penalty Kick 10-3 
37' Lindenwood Try Tyren Al-Jiboori 15-3 
54' Lindenwood Try Stephin Alberts 20-3 
55' Lindenwood Conversion Matteo Peignon 22-3 
60' Lindenwood Try Tyren Al-Jiboori 27-3 
61' Lindenwood Conversion Matteo Peignon 29-3 
70' Davenport Try 29-8 
70' Davenport Conversion 29-10 
74' Lindenwood Try Nick Hardrict, II 34-10 
74' Lindenwood Conversion William Groves 36-10