Steubenville, Ohio - The Franciscan Barons Rugby team had their first home match of the season and its first league match as well. They hosted Clarion University on a bright, fall day. The Barons started out with an opportunity to control the match but ceded a turnover in the first minute. Clarion kept up their poise and matched the Barons tackle for tackle. The Barons were able to score first on a penalty try by Vincent Prezzia. He missed the conversion and the score was 5-0 for the next 10-15 minutes. Clarion would then capitalize on a Baron penalty and dot down a try of their own. They converted the kick and were up on the favored Barons 7-5. Clarion continued to play inspired rugby and kept Franciscan off the scoreboard for close to 35 minutes. A high tackle by a Clarion player on Anthony Chipps, gave the Barons a penalty try, which is an automatic 7 points and the Barons regained the lead which they never gave back. Pretty soon, the Barons were able to take back the momentum and score three more tries before the half was over.

With the score 29-7, the Barons continued to do well in space and started to make several runs and off-loads to support players. The lead kept going up until Noah Schlueter ended the onslaught with a try at the last second. Several players were able to score their first try of their careers. They were Luke Divver, Ryan Nelson, Noah Schlueter and Nick Patryn, who paced all scorers with 4 tries of his own as he was named Golden Man of the Match. John Thibault assisted on 3 of those 4 tries as he showed that he is more than just a scoring machine with his off-loading and defensive tackles. Vincent Prezzia continued to control the flow of the game with his poaching of the ball and aligning the attack structures. Other contributing to the scoring were, Anthony Chipps, Vincent Prezzia (2), and Thibault. The score does not indicate just how well Clarion played in the first half. They didn't give up and kept playing hard to the final whistle. The Barons continue to go through slow starts and it's something that they will need to work out over the next few weeks. They know that each week is another step in their progression and what they need to work on before the next match. They are building a good team but they have work to do. The rookies and young guys continue to impress with their contributions and with their development and progress. They are eager to learn the game and are willing to do the hard work to get better. Next up for the Barons is the Rugby Ruckus on Homecoming this Saturday at 1pm against SUNY Fredonia. There was a decent sized crowd this past Saturday so let's get a great crowd out for the Ruckus!

 

Up Next
The Barons will remain at home to face Fredonia on October 1st at 1:00 p.m. It is homecoming weekend on campus, and this is the lone varsity athletic competition on campus. It will serve as the Rugby Ruckus as well with food and drink available at the game on the upper rugby pitch above Trinity Health System Field. 

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