On a mission and on a roll, the Life University (Life U) Women’s rugby team completed a perfect 7s season with a win in the finals of the Collegiate Rugby Championship on Sunday, June 5. Playing Lindenwood University in the finals, the Running Eagles gutted out a tough 19-10 victory to take home the title.
It started off just as planned with patient phases to take Life U inside the Lindenwood 22, and Christina Swift made a great play to pull it out of the ruck and dive over for the opening try. Up 5-0, Life U controlled the kick and moved the ball quickly upfield, but lost it in the breakdown. Lindenwood came back quickly on the counter and found a seam to go 80 meters untouched for a try in the corner to knot it at 5 apiece. Life U knocked on the kickoff, and Lindenwood spent the next two minutes inside Life U’s 22, but could not find a gap. A Lindenwood knock on was then scooped up by Madison Ohmann, who ran half the field before offloading to Nicole Strasko who ran the other half for a centered try and a 12-5 halftime lead.
Out of the break, Lindenwood got on their front foot but were called for a knock on. Life U was called for interference, and Lindenwood turned that infraction into more meters. Life U committed a penalty near the try line, and Lindenwood took it quickly and dotted down next to the post. Unfortunately for Lindenwood, the seemingly easy conversion went off the cross bar, giving Life U a slim, 12-10 advantage.
The Running Eagles put together perhaps their best sequence of the match when they patiently went sideline to sideline until Kimberly Semiglia found a break and charged hard through the gap. She then offloaded to a sprinting Strasko in stride for another try. When Ohmann converted the try from a tough angle, Life U had a 9-point lead with only seconds remaining. Life U took the Lindenwood runner into touch for the final whistle, and the Life U ladies and their fans began the celebration.
After last week’s USA Rugby Collegiate 7s National Championship, and now the Collegiate Rugby Championship to go with it, there is no doubt the Life U women are the best 7s team in the country, having won all three tournaments they played while going a perfect 18-0.
About Life University
Founded in Marietta, Georgia in 1974, Life University is a health sciences institution most known for its chiropractic program, the largest single campus chiropractic program in the world. Life University is regionally accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award baccalaureate, master’s, and Doctor of Chiropractic degrees, and also has programmatic accreditation through the Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE), the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) and the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE). The mission of Life University is to empower students with the education, skills and values necessary for career success and life fulfillment, based on a vitalistic philosophy.
