ST. CHARLES, Mo. - The Iowa Central rugby team will take on national-title contender Lindenwood in the regular season finale here Saturday.
Match time is set for 1 p.m. with the B-side and 5 p.m. for the A-side at Hunter Stadium.
The seventh-ranked (D1AA) Tritons are coming off a win over Wisconsin, 90-10, as nine different players had a try led by four from Pride Gadzikwa.
"We talked with our kids about the challenge we will be facing," Iowa Central head coach Brent Nelson said. "I'm a very competitive person and I've never gone into anything with the feeling that there was zero chance we could win. This is another of those instances where we know they are as good a team as we have faced, but nothing in sports is a guarantee. That is what makes it so great and why you have some of the greatest upsets in sports.
"We see Lindenwood as the ultimate measuring stick to where we want to be and that is a national powerhouse program. I'm not afraid to say it because I want us to be in that position."
Lindenwood, primarily a member of the NCAA Div. II Great Lakes Valley Conference, started the program in 2012 and won a national title that season. They followed with championship runs in 2015, '17 and '18 and are a perfect 11-0 on the year with wins over Marian and Washington in recent weeks.
"A lot of people in the rugby community refer to Lindenwood as 'The Evil Empire,'" Nelson said. "I don't feel that way, but there are people who do. They recruit a lot of kids, look to internationals, have great facilities and get the top players year in and year out. In a lot of ways, we are polarizing because a lot of people don't know how to treat us as a community college that competes against four-year schools.
"Our goals remain the same, and that is to get kids degrees with as little debt as possible. That's always been the objective and that's what makes us a program doing what nobody else is doing."
The Lions are led by head coach Josh Macy, a former player at James Madison University. The roster features former Iowa Central players Isaiah Davies-Faleuka, Richard Felton and Rhys Smith.
"We have a tremendous relationship with Lindenwood," Nelson said. "They see a lot of value in what Iowa Central offers and it's great to be able to make the short trip down and test ourselves against them. Because it will definitely be a test."
Lindenwood is ranked fourth in D1A.
"We've played several ranked teams already this year including UNI, Marian, Davenport, Arkansas State and Army," Nelsn said. "And with respect to all of them, Lindenwood is as good a rugby program as there is in the country."
The match will be streamed on the Lindenwood team YouTube page.
-By Dana Becker