The Barons hosted Geneva University this past Saturday on a wet and dreary semifinal playoff afternoon in the 3RRC (Three Rivers Rugby Conference).  Franciscan sported an unblemished record at 7-0 and with a win would move on to the Championship next Saturday.  Geneva was up to the challenge and played relentless for most of the match.  While they kept tempo and controlled possession several times through the day, the Baron Boys would not be denied.  Displaying confidence and talent, they were simply too much for the Golden Tornadoes, overpowering them by the score of 50-7. 

Sloppy ball handling was the norm to start the game as rust seemed to seized the Barons after only playing one match for the month of October.  They had a few chances to score in the opening minutes as had been their M.O. this season.  David Prezzia led the charge with a nifty run to dot the ball down and Jake Goduti followed up with a successful conversion to stake the Barons to a 7-0 lead that they would not relinquish.  A few minutes later, Rafe Lewis spotted an opening in the opponent's back end and kicked it to the corner and raced after it, corralled the fumbling ball and touched it down for 5.  The difficult conversion kick was missed as the score went to 12-0 Barons.  As the squad settled in, they would continue this pattern of scoring for the rest of the game at almost every 8 minutes or so as Jake Reinstein hauled in a ground pop pass from Paul Hebert, who was starting at scrumhalf for his first time ever, with Goduti slotting in the conversation after to make it 19-0.  Zack Barnes got the feed from Rafe Lewis and dotted down to run the score to 24 after the failed conversion to end the first half.   In the 2nd half, it was all Franciscan as Prezzia tacked on 3 more tries to finish his day with 4 tries with his last one a scintillating dart through the defense to make it 43-7.  Zack Barnes tried to keep pace with Prezzia with his two second half tries to bring his total on the day to 3.  Rafe Lewis completed the scoring with a dazzling run through the Geneva backline to bring the tally to 50.  A big shout out to the seniors as it was their last home match and they played outstanding as well as helping the first year coach settle in to his position.  President PJ Ernst, captain Josh Leatherby, David Prezzia, Zachary Barnes, Pat Tully (who was named Man of the Match in his last game as a Baron), Cam Lupinetti, James Reichert and Jake Reinstein will be sorely missed next year but before that happens, they will march on to Pittsburgh for the Championship Cup to once again battle nemesis Robert Morris University for a chance to move on to Regionals in Columbia, MO.  Kickoff time is scheduled for 12:00pm at Philip Murray Field in Pittsburgh.  All players played well and will be counted on in the most important match of the year.  Go the Barons!!