The McKendree University men's rugby program welcomed the Lindenwood Lions to Leemon Field on April 7 and went 1-2 in three matches.

Game one saw the Bearcats fall to the Lions high powered offense 27-0.

"We competed well is game one but things let us down and LU was clinical in capitalizing," said head coach Joe Lippert

Game two saw the Bearcats offense come alive, jumping out to a 12-0 lead following the first half. The Bearcats got a try from Senior Ayemere Oiyemhonlan and sophomore Trevor Gillen recorded a successful conversion.  Ayemere followed it up with a try of his second try of the evening but failed to score the conversion.

In the second half, the Lions would come storming back and record three tries to take a 17-12 lead, but Oiyemhonlan would record a final try as time expired off a penalty to try the game and freshman Edgar Galindo would seal the win for the Bearcats with a successful conversion.

"Really proud of the ways the guys tightened things up in game two," said Lippert. "Ayemere made some big plays and Eddie Galindo had some ice in his vains on that final conversion."

Game three would see the Bearcats fall behind early to the Lions 17-0 in the first half. Gillen would record the only try of game three off the opening kickoff of the second half, and he would convert the try to get the Bearcats on the board.

"Any victory against such a talented, quality Lindenwood side is big for us as a new program," said Lippert.

The Bearcats return to action on April 17^th when they welcome the Maryville Saints to Leemon field with the first match beginning at 12 pm.