Saint Mary's has remained healthy for much of this season in compiling an 18-0 record, but now comes a D1A playoff quarterfinal against visiting Lindenwood on Saturday—and with it the physical stress of a long spring.

In last week's round of 16 game, top-seeded Saint Mary's saw five players leave with injuries against No. 16 seed Cal Poly. However, the Gaels showed they are undefeated for a reason and pulled away for a 53-22 win.

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"We've played 18 A-side games, which has been great for us, but has also taken its toll," SMC head coach Tim O'Brien said. "I thought the first half we played some really terrific rugby."

Saint Mary's won handily, but did the Gaels take their foot off the gas in the second half? It's possible, and that's a problem when you're going up against No. 9 seed Lindenwood, which had no such troubles of complacency in an 83-12 win over eighth-seeded Texas A&M. 

"Lindenwood has an extraordinary team. That's an amazing conference," O'Brien said. "Where else is there a better threesome than Life, Lindenwood, and Arkansas State? They should scare anybody."

As for the Lions, what you see is what you get—big, powerful runners who require you to put in a perfect tackle to bring them down. Lindenwood's front row of Chance Wenglewski, Gabriel Romero, and Corey Harmann was immense against A&M and will set the tone again this time.

(Paul McCarthy photo)

"We train hard every day of the week and we do weights a couple of times a week—it's something we rely on so when we come out to play we're able to put in a performance," Lions second row Jack Huckstepp said.  

There are no passengers on the Lindenwood team, and as the Lions go into Moraga, CA, this weekend there's some real concern that this game could end Saint Mary's run of five straight appearances in the D1A final.