PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Franciscan rugby team ended a three-year drought to Robert Morris as the Barons claimed the 3RRC Gold Division crown with a 26-19 win over the Colonials, Saturday afternoon.
"We have a lot of respect for the Robert Morris team, coaches, and program," remarked head coach Dan Kramer. "They have had our number for the last three years and this year we were able to squeak out a win."
Coach Kramer had high praise for his squad as well, citing that the team play with a lot of passion and heart and once settled, were able to play good Baron rugby.
The Barons found themselves down to the Colonials 14-0 after the first 30 minutes of the first half. "We were playing really frantically on defense and committed a lot of penalties. We really deserved to be down at that point," continued Coach Kramer.
Franciscan was able to get a try on the board before the half and senior Ben Erste converted the kick to cut the RMU lead to 14-7 at the half.
"During halftime, we talked about what we needed to do and we knew what needed to happen in order for us to win. The try before halftime gave us a need confidence boost to play a good second half."
The Barons came out of the break focused and calm and were able to play better rugby and commit fewer penalties. The Baron backline out-played the Colonial back line in the second and was able to open up some holes for FUS. The Barons took advantage of the smart running by Jimmy Keuber, Erste, Jeffrey Baldwin and Chris Reilly to picked up a lot of yards. Baldwin, Josh Leatherby, David Prezzia and Keuber were all able to score for the Barons and Erste converted three of his four conversions, the highest kicking completion rate in FUS rugby history.
"I didn't name a single Man of the Match today and rather named all 15 the "Men of the Match." The guys really played their hearts out today," complimented Coach Kramer.
The Barons have qualified for the National Tournament and will play the University of Southern Indiana on Saturday in Fishers, Indiana. This marks the first time since 2013 that the Barons will head to the national tournament and are ranked as one of the top-16 teams in the country.
