Life and Lindenwood To Meet Again in the Women's D1A Final
Life and Lindenwood To Meet Again in the Women's D1A Final
It was a tale of two very different semifinals in women's D1A this past weekend.
Lindenwood defeated Central Washington 29-5 in a demonstration of what it takes to break tackles.
CWU was very good on the day and made Lindenwood work for it, but ultimately the Lions, led by Freda Tafuna but not only her … but a back row that included He’Lena Dou’Ble and Irie Farley and in general an imposing pack, all won the day.
CWU started the game on the front foot, but once Lindenwood got out of their end they were able to exploit a couple of Wildcat penalties to run a nifty penalty move that saw them crash through the defense to open the scoring.
Some powerful pod work secured another try for Lindenwood in the first half, but in the second half it was general right up Broadway for the Lions. A pick and go that caught CWU napping a bit. A break off the back of the lineout that beat six defenders, and then a backline play that opened up the door from 55 meters.
CWU got one back, but that was it.
Lindenwood Head Coach Trevor Locke was of two minds about the win.
“I thought we were OK,” he said. “We were really humming at practice, but in the game we were a little frantic at times and a little uncharacteristically errant in our catch-pass.”
This could be because Lindenwood was cruising through the season and then suddenly had a win-or-go-home game.
Combine that with a Central Washington team that had nothing to lose and the tries were slow to come.
“CWU did a great job of approaching the breakdown and were pretty tidy, too,” said Locke. “No one causes us as many fits as Central does. They were very tough over the ball too.”
CWU Head Coach Matt Ramirez was proud of his players.
"The team fought for 80 minutes … and fought for each other," said Ramirez. "There were some great moments from this young squad in the match against a solid opponent. Outcomes vary, but extremely proud of them for knowing the task at hand and backing and trusting each other to get it done. This team's connection has shown on and off the field all year. Very thankful for this team and staff."
Life University, meanwhile, beat BYU 73-3 in a really impressive showing.
The Running Eagles scored 11. Nina Mason was key in running the attack and slotted nine of 11 conversions. Hattie Greenwood scored two tries and Lissa Salisbury, Alilia Tuitavake, Bella Vogel, AJ Haughey, Azhinaye Barner, and Emerson Callegari all toughed down.
In almost every metric Life was the top dog.
"A great statement of intent from the team. I was looking for a reaction and we got one. Focus is now all into defending the national championship,” said Ryszard Chadwick.
Life takes on Lindenwood in the final this coming weekend at Stanford University. That weekend will also see Stanford vs Cal in the CRAA Women’s D1 final.
