No. 1 Men's Rugby Downs No. 5 Arkansas State at Home
Men's Rugby / 02.18.19
MARIETTA, Ga. ---- The No. 1 nationally ranked Life University men's rugby team took down No. 5 Arkansas State 27-15 at home Saturday afternoon to improve to 2-0 on the year.
The match had championship implications as Arkansas State climbed in the polls after defeating Lindenwood University. With 32 minutes remaining in the first half, Arkansas State scored first off a penalty to go up 3-0.
Mitchell Wilson converted on a penalty to knot the score at three with 26 minutes on the clock.
Wilson came through again two minutes before the half with a conversion after an offload from Dameon Torres to
Ryan Reese, who scored the try. The Running Eagles held a 10-3 lead at the half.
Wilson converted another penalty to put the Running Eagles ahead 13-3 with 32 minutes remaining in the game.
Marek Lipold scored the second try of the game for Life U with a successful conversion from Wilson to give Life U a 20-3 lead. Arkansas State scored a try with 12 minutes left on the clock, however the conversion was unsuccessful as Life U led 20-8.
Life U added a penalty try with five minutes remaining to lead 27-8 as Arkansas State added a late try at the end of the match. The Running Eagles held on for the 27-15 victory.
Looking inside the numbers, Life U had 51% of the possession in the match, but only 47% of the territory. Wilson led the way in points with 10 as
George Phelan finished with 82 ball carry meters.
Justin Johnson and
Harley Wheeler each led the team with 15 tackles as
Jamie Berrisford finished with 11 cleanouts and two steals. Wilson ended his day 4-for-4 kicking on two penalties and two conversions.
The Running Eagles will return to action on Saturday, February 23, as they host No. 7 Lindenwood University at 1 PM at Lupo Family Field. Fans can tune into FloRugby to also catch the action here:
Life U vs Lindenwood
