SAINT LOUIS - The Franciscan Barons' Rugby team headed out west for the third consecutive year. The outcome remained the same though. The Barons were up against #3 Nationally ranked Wayne St, who were the runner ups in last year's National Championship and ousted the Barons last year 43-10. Franciscan came into the match up as huge underdogs to the international seasoned team with no one giving them a chance to pull off an upset. Unseasonal weather was enjoyed all weekend, with spring-like weather, temps in the high 50s and sunshine radiating the pitches.

National Sweet 16 - Franciscan 10, Wayne State 29
Franciscan exuded confidence that they would be able to sustain Wayne State's speed and experienced players. They devised a game plan to keep the ball away from them as much as possible and to play mistake free rugby for 80 minutes. Wayne State is a team that can capitalize on a team's miscues immediately and make teams pay for their mistakes by scoring quickly. The Barons started things off by ball controlling and keeping the ball away from WSC (Wayne State College), with runs by Luke Hall and John Paul Leatherby, only kicking when they needed to change the field position. Wayne St was able to collect the kick and countered kicked back to the Barons. The Barons again kept the ball for a few phases before knocking it on with runs by Nick Patryn and Jacob Leerkes. After being in their own zone of the field, the Barons kicked it out and into the waiting hands of an WSC player and the player made a few side steps during his run and scored the game's first points. After the conversion, the score was 7-0. Again, the Barons committed a turnover and Wayne St kicked for touch to get into the Barons' side of the field. Another infraction by Franciscan gave WSC an opportunity to tap and go, with the tackled player setting up for a pick and go try. WSC converted the kick after and after 5 minutes, they were up 14-0.

The Barons immediately got the ball back after the restart and kept their composure by maintaining ball possession for several minutes. The backline of John Bateman, Aidan Gibbons, Andrew Normandin and John Thibault helped advance the ball quickly as they cycled the ball outside to Sam Chipps. A high tackle by WSC after several had been called yielded a penalty kick for the Barons. Gibbons pushed the kick to the left of the posts, keeping the score at 14-0. WSC had to do a 22 meter drop kick and the Barons were back on the attack. Vinnie Prezzia did well to keep the ball moving quickly with his passing as the forwards attempted to break the gainline and move the ball forward. Bateman and Thibault had a few runs that offered opportunities to offload out wide to Luke Divver and Abraham Schmeising. Schmeising was able to break through and took off for a long run only to be tackled short of the try and in the process lost the ball with no support. The Barons knew they lost their chance at a prime scoring opportunity. WSC was able to advance the ball down the field and the Barons dug themselves a hole by committing a penalty. WSC decided to kick for points and converted it, giving them a 17-0 lead with about 20 minutes remaining in the half. The Barons did well with time of possession and running several phases but just couldn't find spacing to score. They had a few opportunities to punch it in as they were in WSC zone for a bit. A WSC player high tackled Sam Chipps for about the 4th or 5th high tackle that should have sent the player off for a yellow card but only another warning was issued. The Barons continued to string phases together but WSC would not relent and played tough defense especially when close to the tryline. A pick and go by the Barons was thwarted when the Barons attacker outran his support and lost the ball to a poach by WSC. Again, another opportunity slipped by for the Barons. WSC was finally yellow carded for a high tackle and the Barons went quickly to work, and after a few phases, Bateman sent a well-placed kick that was chased down by several Barons, including Normandin, who outjumped the WSC player and snagged the ball and then proceeded to offload to Sam Chipps who scampered in to break the scoring drought. Gibbons connected on the kick after and the Barons cut the lead to ten, with WSC up 17-7. Once again, the Barons committed a turnover off the restart kick. WSC pounced on it and was able to get a penalty call where they quick tapped it and dove in for the try. With the conversion successful, WSC upped the lead to 24-7. All three of Wayne St's tries were a direct result of a Baron turnover. After the restart kick, the Barons were able to get the ball back on a knock by WSC. Liam Phelan did an 8-man pick from the scrum and promptly raced past a few WSC defenders and offloaded to Divver who also offloaded back inside to Prezzia and Prezzia sidestepped a few defenders and did a dummy offload and tried to take it in for the score himself. He got held up inside the try zone which gave the ball to the WSC for a 5-meter drop. Once again, the Barons committed an easy mistake and coughed the ball forward on the drop kick, giving the ball back to WSC just as the Barons were gaining steam and the half was nearing its end. At the half, Wayne State led 24-7.

The Barons won the possession battle, holding the ball for most of the 40 minutes. Franciscan knew that they were giving the game to Wayne State but were confident that they could mount a comeback yet, they would have to play flawlessly in the second half. They did well out of the gates and were able to get the ball back. After a few phases, they were able to get into WSC's zone but another unforced error extinguished a potential Baron try that would have gotten them back into the game as Wayne State were basically playing to stay ahead. However, Anthony Chipps was able to intercept a pass from WSC and provide the Barons with another chance to score. The Barons worked the ball out wide and strung together about 8 phases but still couldn't punch it in. After a kick into the try zone and tapped down by WSC, the ensuing 5 meter drop by WSC again kept the ball in Barons possession as they worked feverishly to get the ball across the try line. After a few phases, another knock doomed the Barons as they were closing in on scoring a try. As the half wore on, this same occurrence seemed to repeat itself-the Barons would be stringing together phase play and then knocking it on. Wayne State was happy to just sit back and play defense and kick the ball away. Franciscan possessed the ball for about 30 total minutes in the 2nd half and just could not find open space to score. Gibbons added a penalty kick with about 20 minutes left to bring the score to 24-10. The points rejuvenated the Barons as they quickly marched back down the field looking to close the gap, only to be called for a forward pass. The mistakes kept occurring at the worst time, usually stymying a Barons momentum. If only they could score a try to narrow the score as they still had 20 minutes to go-plenty of time to rally back. Franciscan continued to control the ball for the next 10 minutes but getting nowhere with it. Wayne State was finally able to get possession of the ball and maintain control of it for the next five minutes. They were able to move the ball into the Barons' side of the field but a turnover by Wayne State gave the Barons a chance to get out of their end. A kick by Prezzia was blocked and with no one behind him, WSC was able to pounce on the loose ball to close the door on any possible Baron comeback. With the missed conversion, Wayne State upped their lead to 29-10 with 5 minutes to go. The Barons were able to get the ball back soon after the restart kick but couldn't do much with it as time ran out. While the score shows a 19-point deficit, Franciscan ruggers played as well as they could and if a few plays had panned out, they could have pulled off the upset.

Regional Third Place Match - Franciscan 36, Slippery Rock 26
The Barons would face Slippery Rock for the third time this fall, as Slippery Rock lost to St, John's 20-19. St. John's would play Wayne State the next day on Sunday and Wayne State blew them out 63-7-a score that is a common occurrence to the international squad from Wayne State, which for the Barons should be somewhat of a morale booster. Franciscan won their rubber match against Slippery Rock 36-26 in a fun and entertaining back and forth match that was not decided until the last 10 minutes. For the Barons, it was a disappointing end that dashed the players' high expectations of making it to Nationals. The team will lose most of its backline power with #9 Prezzia, #10 Bateman, #12 Normandin, and #15 Thibault all graduating next Spring. This connection was a constant threat to score from anywhere on the field at any time. Anthony Chipps and Luke Hall will also graduate, leaving behind their veteran leadership and high rugby IQ.

The seniors will leave a huge hole and be sorely missed. The team will turn their attention to 7's in the spring and look to qualifying for Nationals next April of 2024. Stay tuned for an end of the season recap.

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