D1A Around the Nation

02.28.2026College Men

Lindenwood won a key one. Todd Lunow photo.

Author: Alex Goff

Here’s a quick look at D1A action around the country.

Cross-Conference Actions

Lindenwood beat Life 18-15 in a game that saw most of the points scored in the first quarter of the match. Life hooker Adam Chadwick staked the Running Eagles to a 5-0 lead two minutes in only for Lindenwood’s David Cathcart and then Tom Bishop to go over and set up a 12-5 lead.

Lindenwood held onto that lead into the second half when Byron Forword added a penalty goal to make it 15-5. Douw Wessels scored midway through the second half that, with Jonty Lee’s converison, made it 15-12. So now we were on a knife edge.

Lee then tied it up 15-15. But as time ticked away Forword nudged Lindenwood ahead 18-15.

Life had a penalty deep in Lindenwood’s 22 right in front of the posts as time was up, and could have tied it up. The issue then was that it was probably going to end up a tie. Instead, they went for it all, taking a scrum. Lindenwood defended, and closed out the game.

This was a huge result for Lindenwood, as they remain undefeated going into March while Life has two losses (this one and 29-21 to Navy in October).

In another cross-conference clash, Arizona defeated UCLA 39-28. Since Arizona’s 68-15 loss to Saint Mary’s, the Wildcats have beaten St. Thomas and lost to Cal by only six points. What they needed was a fairly clear win against a highly-ranked opponent, and this was it.

Also crossing boundaries was West Point, which beat St. Thomas 57-14.

“St. Thomas is a very dangerous and unpredictable team,” said Army Head Coach Matt Sherman. “They can attack you with some physical players up front and they are very fast. So we [needed] to be prepared for that.

"We're pretty pleased with this first performance of the season. A lot of effort, solid discipline, and some good moments of resilience when we lost our way a few times. We're excited to get better from here, and know we can be more accurate going forward.”

This was Army’s first hit-out of the New Year and a good one.

Liam Walsh, Isaac Gamboa, Landin Jacon-Duffy, and George Engels all scored tries in the first half, and Dylan Liskey, Jack Reed, Liskey again, and Jacob Bottarini (twice) scored tries in the second half.

Midwest Conference

Arkansas State defeated Davenport 51-29 to improve to 3-1 in the conference. Davenport dropped to 2-3.

California Conference

In the California Conference Saint Mary’s won comfortably over a very good Cal Poly team, giving the Mustangs their first conference loss 57-12.

Saint Mary's Still Undefeated In-Conference

But the most startling result in that conference was San Diego State beating Santa Clara 62-10. It was an excellent defensive performance from the Aztecs. They played smart, getting out of trouble and playing in the right areas of the field.

“These are all principles we have been coaching and they are starting to get it,” said Head Coach Scott Bracken.

Ben Cima has joined the staff and has helped get SDSU to where they are now. Santa Clara battled but this was the Aztecs’ day. Both SDUS and Santa Clara are now 3-3 in league play.

San Diego won big over Sacramento State with three tries each from Dennis White and Torres Kapust.

With the USD win the Toreros are still second behind Cal Poly but they have a game in hand. The California South will likely be decided March 14 with USD vs Cal Poly.