Lindenwood put on a defensive showing to the tune of a 25-0 shutout of Arkansas State, scoring four tries and, with that, a bonus point in the Mid-South conference. 

The Lion's opened the match on the front foot at the three-minute mark with a penalty kick from Evan Williams to go up 3-0. A few minutes later Nick Hardrict, II timed an ill-advised Red Wolves pass from the ground and raced 50 meters to extend the lead 8-0. 

Both teams had scoring opportunities throughout the first half, but play was consistently negated by poor ball handling and momentum killing penalties. In a last-ditch effort to score their first try of the match, Arkansas State elected to play out of their own end with no time remaining. The Red Wolves started putting together phases and was driving deep into Lion territory but was pinged for holding onto the ball. After Williams found touch near midfield, it was Lindenwood’s chance to find points at the end of the half. 

The visitors won their lineout and scrumhalf Evan Conlon fooled everyone when he faked a pass off the back of the lineout and darted up the middle of the field. After a strong carry he offloaded to a supporting Neal Moylett who finished the job and scored the try. In what was an 8-0 match with momentum starting to favor the home team, the Lions took control and was up 13-0 at the break. 

Coming out of the first half, scoring was hard to come by as both teams struggled to find their footing in the wet field conditions. Williams continued to pin Arkansas State back and the defensive effort of Eduan van Heerden, Juan Mota Sanchez and Stephen Alberts stopped any go forward movement from the Red Wolves. 

At the 66-minute mark, Kaleb O’Donoghue was able to break the scoring drought when he found himself over the try line after a well-executed maul from the lineout. 

With time winding down Rhys Smith put in one last try on a gutsy inside line to not only give Lindenwood the 25-0 win, but an additional bonus point in the conference standings for scoring four or more tries. 

With that result Lindenwood moved to 3-0 in the Mid-South Conference.

“I think the field conditions today made us play slower than we like to play," said Lindenwood flanker Juan Mota Sanchez. "However, we did a great job overcoming that by staying connected in the kick chase and on defense. With how the match was going we had the mentality of 'next job up.' This allowed us to get rid of the negative moments and find success multiple times in the game.” 

Next up, Lindenwood takes a break from conference play to take on Kansas University in Lawrence, Kans. on Feb 26. 

Arkansas State hosts Life University next week in a Mid-South Conference game.