Life University Athletics

St. Charles, MO - Life University clinched the D1A Mid-South Conference title Saturday night with a 31-12 win over #5 Lindenwood in St. Charles, MO.

The match saw some back and forth action early on with Lindenwood knocking on the door on multiple occasions. LIFE's defense withstood the onslaught, however, leaving Lindenwood scoreless in the 1st half. 
 

"They came out firing from the start but we worked all week on sticking to our defensive structure," said junior halfback Duncan Van Schalkwyk. "Our defense allowed us to apply pressure. We knew we'd have opportunities to put points on the board, we just had to stay patient."
 

An opportunity came in the 26th minute after a few phases on attack when Number 8 Maciu Koroi picked and went clean through. Finding himself one on one with the fullback, Koroi found Alex Maughan racing in support who fell over for the matches' first points. 
 

Just before half, and with time expired, LIFE opted to take advantage of an attacking scrum near the halfway line. The ball made it's way to Mitch Wilson who, breaking a number of tackles in the process, broke down the middle of the field and dished to scrumhalf Ryan Rees for a try under the posts. Duncan Van Schalkwyk successfully converted both tries and the Running Eagles went into halftime ahead 14-0.

In the first minute of the second half, LIFE extended the lead. From the back of a scrum, Koroi popped to Rees, who dummied, went through the middle, and found fullback George Phelan who still had some work to do. Phelan showed some good footwork beating the last defender and dashed in for the score to make it 19-0 LIFE. Shortly thereafter Lindenwood capitalized on a couple LIFE errors in the form of two unanswered tries in the span of 10 minutes. By the 55th minute, the score was 19-12 LIFE. But Van Schalkwyk would answer in the 58th, when he dummied at the base of a ruck and ran clear through for a try from close range. Van Schalwyk added the extras to make it 26-12 LIFE.

In the last ten minutes of the match, LIFE drew a series of penalties near the halfway line and eventually opted to kick for the corner. Van Schalkwyk's kick put the throw-in close to Lindenwood's line.  "We take pride in our set piece," said prop and co-captain Alex Maughan.   "Over the season we have emphasized working as one unit."

From the throw in, LIFE's forward pack got an opportunity to do just that. Hooker Brian Muntanga threw in and then positioned himself at the back of the maul. The LIFE forwards mauled it over the line and Brian Muntanga touched down for a try in the 72nd minute.  "Today was a good step in the right direction in terms of our buy in to that 'one unit' idea," added Maughan. "That was something we wanted and will continue to want to prove to ourselves."  Muntanga's try would be the final points of the match. The final score finished 31-12 in favor of LIFE.

LIFE captain Mitch Wilson had this to say of the encounter: "We knew we were coming into a hostile environment with one job to do. The team is happy to come away with a good performance and the result."

Next, LIFE will host Clemson on Saturday, March 31st at Lupo Family Field. Kickoff is set for 1:00pm and LIFE will be honoring its seniors beforehand. The match will be broadcast live on FloRugby.com.

Life 31

Tries: Maughan, Rees, Phelan, Van Schalkwyk, Muntanga

Convs: Van Schalkwyk 3

Lindenwood 12

Tries: White 2

Convs: Feakes