May 10, 2018—The Life University women’s rugby team finished up a tremendous season as national runner-up Saturday after a 34-8 loss to Lindenwood in Fullerton, CA.
After knocking off defending national champs and No. 1 seed Penn State in a physical battle Friday in the semi-final, Life U earned their spot in the final against Lindenwood, who beat BYU in the semis.
Lindenwood got on the board early after drawing a penalty and making the kick for 3 points. Whitney Wilson and the Running Eagles answered with their own 3 points after drawing a penalty on Lindenwood. After the 3-3 tie, the Lindenwood offense rolled, scoring three tries and adding a penalty kick. Life U went into the half down 3-27.
The Running Eagles came out fighting in the second half and showed a strong defensive effort. Ana Fanning intercepted the ball and made a beautiful line break but Life U couldn’t convert the play into points. After one more Lindenwood try, senior Kaitlyn Broughton showed her lightening fast speed as she stole the ball mid-air and took it 70 meters for the last try of the game. The Life U defense held strong in the second half but the offense couldn’t get going. Life University ended up falling to Lindenwood 34-8.
The Running Eagles will be back on the pitch May 19th to compete in the USA Rugby 7s national tournament. They will look for their second 7s national championship, as they brought home the championship trophy in 2016.
Source: Life University Athletics
