Running Eagles Earn Trip to National Championship against Lindenwood
Women's Rugby / 04.01.24
MARIETTA, Ga. ---- The Life University women's rugby team earned a convincing 28-3 victory over Central Washington at Lupo Family Field Saturday night to advance to the D1 Elite Championship.
The Running Eagles fell behind after a penalty conversion got things going in the 10th minute. Adrionna Duncan responded with a score in the 15th minute with Nina Mason adding the conversion to go ahead 7-3. The two teams were then in a stalemate throughout the remainder of the half with the Running Eagles carrying the narrow lead into halftime.
In the second half, directly after the kickoff, a revitalized Life U lineup marched aggressively down the field with purpose as Lisa Salisbury eventually broke across for a try in the 45th minute. Another conversion by Mason extended the Running Eagles' lead to 14-3.
The Running then broke through to score another try with 14 minutes to go, cruising to the finish line after an extended injury delay.
After the delay, the Running Eagles then scored their last points of the match to win, 28-3.
Head Coach Ryszard Chadwick shared his thoughts on the performance, stating, "Central Washington did not make today an easy semifinal. They us on the ropes for the first 20 minutes but our goal line defense held strong… We had a big wake up call and we were lucky to be ahead at half time."
He then continued, "We changed some things at half time and came out on top. The old cliché of a game of two halves is one that is certainly applicable to this game. Lessons learnt in winning is better than lessons learnt in losing so now we set our sights to Lindenwood in the final."
The Running Eagles will compete for the D1 Elite National Championship in Phoenix. Kickoff in Arizona is set for April 14th at 10 pm est.
