Barons Fall in Season Finale to Fairmont State

STEUBENVILLE, OH - The Barons rugby team of Franciscan University of Steubenville traveled to Fairmont for their final game of the season, losing 27-25.  With the loss, the Barons finished their fall season with a record of 0-5-1.

Fairmont State was able to jump to an early lead, and took a 22-6 advantage in to the locker room.  In the first half, Franciscan players JJ Pedulla and Thomas Kleinschnitz were seriously injured and taken to the hospital.

The Barons rallied back in the second half, outscoring Fairmont, 21-3; however, they missed a final conversion kick that would have tied the game and lost, 27-25.

"Matt Strickland played a good game for us at flyhalf, and he had a couple tries," Barons coach Mark Hanrahan remarked post-game.  "Matt Smeby had a great game as well with 2 penalty kicks and 2 conversions."

Coach Hanrahan was pleased with his team's effort on the season as a whole:  "This semester was a fun season.  It was a great group of guys who never gave up and never quit.  They showed tremendous strength against the odds and against much bigger schools and teams.  We improved throughout the semester and are looking forward to building on this season and bringing back a bunch of guys from Austria.  I see great potential for this team in the upcoming years!"