Going into last weekend, we suspected that the Canterbury Player of the Week might come out of the Life University vs. Lindenwood match Saturday night. They’re two young, independent programs that have to work a little harder to build competitive schedules given their geographic isolation. Their mutual dependency has cultured a healthy rivalry, one that the Running Eagles have won – until last weekend. The Lions won their first 15s match against Life, and Canterbury Player of the Week McKenzie Hawkins was hugely influential.
“After finishing last year with two close competitions in 7s and the 15s playoffs, this was definitely a match we wanted to win more than others,” Lindenwood coach Billy Nicholas said. “But last year we mentally hyped up the game too much. We’ve truly been going week-to-week this season, with the focus very much on us, and that’s helped.”
Lindenwood’s confidence got an early boost when former Quinnipiac standout Natalie Kosko scored. A good offloading game saw Hannah Gauthreaux and Laura Enk finish off team tries, and Hawkins’ conversion gave the home side a 17-0 lead into halftime. The Lions were feeling good but knew Life would have a response in the second half. Megan Rom and Kaitlyn Broughton scored for the Running Eagles, and two Whitney Wilson conversions closed the gap.
Hawkins, who shifted to inside center from flyhalf this season, now plays beside Olympian Richelle Stephens at #10. Nicholas believes the Women’s Collegiate All-American has some caps waiting for her at #12 and was big on moving the Tennessee native to her natural position this year.
“Physically, she has a good combination of size and speed. She’s strong and deceptively fast,” Nicholas explained why Hawkins is a good inside center. “But it’s her decision-making. She knows right off the bat whether she’s going to attack or work it out wide. She has such a high rugby IQ because she’s been playing for so long, and she’s so calm and poised. Her overall demeanor is that of an overall leader. [Saturday] night there were high-pressure situations, and she was able to keep the team calm and make sure everyone was on the same page – that’s a lot of maturity for a sophomore in college.”
Just as Life was closing in, Hawkins scored and converted a try to add some cushion on the scoreboard.
“But the biggest thing was she played really strong defense,” Nicholas said. “Life had a particularly strong, attacking back line and she seemed to be everywhere defensively. Holding Life to 14 points was a big win for us.”
The match marked the first time this season that the top side played a full game with each other. The contest was a first look into the potential of Lindenwood’s first team, but the program is taking the victory in stride, realizing that a long year is ahead.
“The majority of our matches have showed us we have really good depth,” Nicholas said. “This one was more of a mental thing, that we can win those close games. We needed to come in, forget about our previous track record, and realize that this is a whole new group, a new team in a new season.”
Hawkins and crew will build off of this win when they face Penn State this weekend.
McKenzie Hawkins is the fourth Player of the Week for October and was preceded by Sara Parsons Oct. 17, Kat Scheerer Oct. 10 and Lea Walsh Oct. 3. Next Monday, Oct. 31, will be the final award of the month, and then readers will vote for the Canterbury October Player of the Month for October. Canterbury will recognize the honoree and also donate a goodie bag of gear.