PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Franciscan rugby team dropped its first 3RRC contest of the season as the Barons fell to Robert Morris, 39-17, Saturday afternoon.

Robert Morris scored a pair of tries early to take a 1-0 on the Barons. "They came out on fire," remarked head coach Dan Kramer on Robert Morris. "They came out ready to hit and our guys came out soft. We seemed to be like dear caught in headlights for the first 10 minutes and a couple missed tackles led to early points for Robert Morris."

The Barons were able to cut the lead to 10-5 thanks to a Matthew Hostutler try, but Robert Morris pushed its lead to 22-5 at half time.

"Their forward pack was more physical and controlled the break down and ours were soft and let them control it. We tackled high and didn't stick to our game plan," continued coach Kramer. "We let RMU take control of the game and played to their game plan."

With about 25 minutes left to play, the Barons got into a small grove, thanks in part to a try from James Weiss, but then gave up the ball and were unable to cut the lead down by more than 17 points. "Today, we were our own worst enemies."

"The best part of this is showing us that despite score 80 points last week, we still have a lot to work on and grow from to get better. If we see them again in the playoffs, we can improve on this and get to their level."

The ruggers continue their road trip as they travel to Carnegie Mellon on Wednesday for a 8pm match.