Notre Dame College defeated Lindenwood-Belleville 34-17 Saturday morning in Lamont, Ill. in a clash of two very good independent DIAA teams.

Both teams are looking at a possible at-large spot in the DIAA playoffs. NDC seems set to be seeded #1 in the final eight (which will definitely include Binghamton, St. Joseph's, James Madison, and the MAC champs). The Falcons scored five tries and held the Lynx to just one.

"I was really pleased with our defense," said Notre Dame College Head Coach Jason Fox. "To keep a team like Lindenwood-Belleville, which has such a dangerous backline, is pretty tough to do. We did make some mistakes, and we gave up too many penalties, but we got some young guys a good run. We needed a tough game before the playoffs and we got it."

For the Lynx, they were looking to prove they deserved a spot in those DIAA playoffs, too, and giving Notre Dame College such a good run might well be good enough. L-B got a penalty from Juan Pablo Aguirre early on, and used Aguirre's boot to kick for touch on penalties several times. Their lone try came from Jacob Gilliam. Notre Dame College did well to stop the L-B drive after that, but Aguirre's kicking kept his team in the game. 

It was 20-17 at one point, but two late tries from the Falcons put it away. Fox said he was pleased with the physicality of his team and how they made up for a couple of player absences.