Lindenwood scored seven tries against Penn State. / Photos: Randy Enk
If anything builds anticipation for an upcoming competition, it’s the restaging of last season’s championship. On Sunday, 2017 DI Elite finalists Penn State and Lindenwood met at the Moose Rugby Grounds in Elkhart, Ind., and the result piqued attention.
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Neither team entered Sunday’s match unscathed. Penn State had dropped a fall-opening friendly to Dartmouth, and Quinnipiac rallied for a nine-point win over the Nittany Lions a month ago. Lindenwood dropped its two opening fall games to the Glendale Merlins. But on Sunday, Lindenwood got the win, defeating Penn State 52-24.
“The increased level of competition at a number of programs is not just good for the collegiate game but for higher-level rugby as well,” Penn State coach Kate Daley reflected on the match.
Lindenwood is also taking the result in stride. However, the St. Charles program is still relatively young, and a win against Penn State resonates, especially when one considers the circumstances of the teams’ previous meeting. (Remember this kicker!?)
“We have truly focused on one match at a time this season, with a handful of competitive opponents before this one,” Lindenwood coach Billy Nicholas noted. “But once Monday rolled around and we were able to focus on [the Penn State game] more, we had a high-energy and positive week of practice leading up.”
Come game time, Nicholas indicated that the team was in a good place mentally.
“We were excited, maybe a bit nervy in the first 20 minutes, but slowly moved into very confident in what we can do,” the coach added.
Lindenwood established the first notable lead, forcing Penn State to play catch up. The Nittany Lions matched tied it up 17-all on tries from Gabby Cantorna, who kicked the first of two conversions, Rhyan Barnic and Ali Wicks. But Lindenwood kept the scoreboard ticking over and took a 29-17 lead into the half.
“Overall, especially in the first half, it seemed like it was going to be a tight contest the whole way,” recounted referee Will Mishler, who was effusive in his praise of two disciplined teams, respectful coaching staffs and the level of class displayed. “The second half started the same way; each side traded tries. [Penn State] had a great break [from Cantorna] and just a phenomenal offload to [Kayla Canett] under the posts to make it 29-24. After that it was all [Lindenwood].”
Name the Fallbrook grads. / Photo: Randy Enk
Lindenwood had made a few tweaks at halftime, and those adjustments started to pay off.
“We have been installing into our culture that we want to be a program that finishes, and I think in the last 30 minutes our confidence grew, decisions were executed well under the pressure of the match, and we played very unselfishly,” Nicholas praised. “We had great leadership from our players on the day who really made a difference in our actions on the field.”
Referee Mishler noted the consistency of Lindenwood’s pressure defense and depth of fitness, as 23 unanswered points were added to the scoreboard. He singled out flanker Ariana Lewis in particular for her punishing tackles and physicality.
Teresa Bueso Gomez / Photo: Randy Enk
By game’s end, Lindenwood had spread its seven tries across six players: prop Laura Enk, hooker Annemarie Reed, flyhalf Richelle Stephens, inside center McKenzie Hawkins, outside center Teresa Bueso-Gomez (2) and wing Sativa Tarau-Peehikuru. Hawkins converted every single try and added a penalty to lead with 22 points.
“The Lindenwood match showed a lot of promise for the spring and the future,” Daley explained. “I am particularly proud of our some of our young and less experienced forwards for really stepping up in that game. It’s wonderful to have so many high school rugby players that are athletes entering college with a serious desire to be the best rugby players they can be.”
The game supplied lessons for both teams, but if and/or when they see each other in the post-season, they’ll be different. In the meantime, Penn State must prepare for the Big 10 championship against Notre Dame in two weeks, and Lindenwood has two more fixtures and two more tours before year’s end. The spring is another matrix of friendlies and tours, but now there’s a light glowing in the back of the collective rugby community’s mind: When the DI Elite competition gets here, it’s going to be a good one.