Lindenwood Shuts Out UMW in the Tennessee Rain
Lindenwood Shuts Out UMW in the Tennessee Rain
Top-20 D1A teams Lindenwood and Mary Washington met at a neutral site in Knoxville Tenn. (note state abbreviation style) with the Lions coming away with a rain-soaked shutout victory.
On what was a torrentially rainy day the two sides looked to rely on their forwards to do a lot of the heavy lifting.
At kickoff the effects of playing in a mud bowl were evident as handling issues sprouted like weeds for both teams, numerous and costly.
It was Lindenwood that opened the scoring with a try spurred by an excellent maul that opened the way for their backs to take over and put one down.
This strong forward presence was evident throughout the match as with each lineout or scrum it became ever clearer what impact Lindenwood’s forwards would have on this match.
However, when it came to open play Mary Washington showed off their defense, rarely yielding at their gainline and forcing Lindenwood to resort to the boot. This gave the Mothers back three quality chances to create havoc against the Lindenwood defense.
As the game wore on costly Mary Washington mistakes led to more Lindenwood entries into the 22 and eventually that led to tries.
With each passing defensive maul and defensive scrum the fatigue began to set in with Mary Washington’s forwards. So when they had opportunities on offense they were unable to capitalize. This opened up many opportunities for Lindenwood’s backline, which eventually broke the game wide open.
Lindenwood showed off their pedigree with this game, as even in adverse conditions they capitalized on almost every opportunity. Their true strength lay in their forward pack who had a strong showing, winning every aspect of the game, leading to a final score of 39-0. It was fitting that lock Le’Donn Mathis took Man-of-the-Match honors.
Lindenwood travels to Arkansas State next week to test their metal against a strong Arkansas State side. Mary Washington host Virginia Tech next week in Fredericksburg, Va., a match that will sure help them regain their footing but will still be a challenge as they look to push for a D1A playoff spot.
—Toby Fagan
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