Steubenville, Ohio - This past weekend saw a winter frost invade the Franciscan campus. With the blustery winds and frosty chill in the air, The Franciscan 7's Rugby tournament endured the tundra like temperatures and kicked off the 7's season for the Barons. A total of 4 teams entered the tournament, with three of those also entering a 2nd side. Franciscan, IUP, Robert Morris and Slippery Rock were the four teams that comprised the gathering. FUS, IUP and SRU each had a 2nd side which was the developmental side for new coming players to play 7's. 7's is played with 7 players to a side, for two 7 minute halves. It is a faster pace style of play than 15's with more skill and finesse involved, however, the laws of rugby are about the only thing that is similar between the two codes of rugby.

Franciscan Gold (1st side) were slated in the first match vs archrival Robert Morris. It was Robert Morris' first 7's match of the spring season and although they played tough as they always do, their lack of 7's playing experience showed. With the frigid air affecting the ball movement while passing, and the ball finding its way to the ground more often than not throughout the day, Franciscan managed to stay the course. Franciscan, with their fine ball movement and steady advancement with the ball, won 29-0 with tries scored by Vincent Prezzia (2), newcomer Austin Mass, David Williams, and Mike Hardy to tally 25 points and Prezzia converting two of 5 kicks for 4 points. Unfortunately, it would be all they scored the rest of the day. In their next matchup, they played a physical SRU side that played good defense and kept the slate clean for the Barons. After several injuries forced a few green squad guys to move up to the Gold team, they were not able to keep up with SRU, with SRU blanking the Barons 20-0. In their final matchup of the day, the Gold Barons lost to eventual champion, IUP 21-0. They played well given the circumstances of losing several field leaders but IUP was just too strong and good. The Green squad (developmental side) showed promise with their match against IUP 2nd side with some good tackling and passing. Austin Mass scored his second try of the day and Ethan Peterson scored on a deft fake pass to give the team a 10-5 lead. They ended up losing 17-10 but played well. In their next match versus SRU's 2nd side, they faired much better, taking the victory by the score of 22-5. Austin Mass scored his 3rd try of the day while Jorge Cebreros tallied 3 tries of his own as he continues to show improvement with his knowledge of the game. Luke Hall provided a stable presence on the field as the Green captain and keeping the ball flow going as well as one could with the weather conditions.

IUP and SRU both played a tightly contest match (after the Franciscan/RMU match) that was a preview of things to come as IUP came away with a 12-7 win. IUP also beat RMU 28-0, bringing their record to a clean 3-0 (as they won against FUS). IUP's 2nd side also squared off against SRU's 2nd side coming away with a 24-15 win and giving them a 2-0 record on the day. SRU beat RMU 31-5 to give them a 2-1 record and advance to face IUP for a second time in the Championship game. In another closely fought match, IUP prevailed again on a last second try to break the deadlock 12-12 score and win 17-12. IUP finished the day at 4-0, SRU at 2-2, Franciscan at 1-2, and RMU at 0-3. Franciscan appreciates all the players and coaches that braved the wintry storm and play some tough, rugged rugby. All 4 teams will be at the Nail City 7's hosted by Wheeling Rugby for a chance to continue to build their "resume" in hopes of securing a bid or qualifying for NCR's National 7's Championship at May Madness New Orleans to be held Memorial Day weekend.