STEUBENVILLE, Ohio -  The Barons Rugby squad welcomed Xavier University to Franciscan this past weekend as they looked forward to their home opener. The weather was dreary, but the rain stayed away and the temps were pleasant enough. With the Barons sitting 5 starters from last week's clash with Christendom, including senior, John Thibault, nursing a pulled hammy and an untimely incident at a training during the week, the Barons were shorthanded with experience again. Don't tell the Baron backline that because Aidan Gibbons, Vincent Prezzia, Andrew Normandin and John Paul Kilmer outmaneuvered and outran the opposition in this one.

Normandin, a newcomer playing his second match, put on a show for the home crowd and started things off with a bang. The Barons received the kick to start the match and immediately paid off dividends as Prezzia threw a dart to Gibbons who threw a sharp pass to Normandin and Normandin made a quick cut and was off like a cannon shot, outracing, and shaking off the Xavier defenders as he dotted down his first career try less than 30 seconds into the match. It would not be his last one. Gibbons slotted home the kick after to give the Barons a lead they would never relinquish. The Barons kept the pressure on and quickly scored another try, this time by a well-timed grubby kick off the boot of Prezzia. The ball squirted through a few defenders and when Normandin couldn't quite corral the ball, Prezzia was able to scoop his own kick and touch it down. Gibbons' conversion pushed the lead to 14-0. The Barons added to their lead with a nifty backdoor pass from Prezzia to Normandin, who broke a few attempted tackles and scored a 40 meter try, his second of the day, to up the lead by 21 after Gibbons point after kick was successful. Xavier was able to tack on 3 points with a penalty kick. The rest of the half saw the Barons continue to run phases but not able to punch through the Xavier defense and a few mistakes of their own.

The start of the second half saw the Barons kicking off to Xavier. Xavier was able to run a few phases and then kicked the ball to gain field advantage. Fullback Noah Schlueter misread the ball and it bounced away from him. He was able to collect the bouncing ball and go into contact. A quick pass bounced out of a Baron player's hands because of an offside call that went uncalled as he was hit right when the ball got to him. Xavier was able to jump on the ball for their first score. With the successful kick after, the score was 21-10. In a reverse from last week, this time the Barons stopped the momentum with another play involving the backline as Prezzia made a nice deft move to dummy JP Kilmer and throw a bullet pass to Normandin as he split two defenders and outran the rest of the Xavier players, and recorded a hat trick with his third try of the game. Gibbons' conversion kick was slightly off the mark and the score stood 26-10. A yellow card for a high tackle on Brendan Lacey saw him enter the sin bin for 10 minutes and Xavier was able to capitalize with the man advantage, putting up 10 points, kicking a penalty kick for three and scoring a try to close the lead by 8 at 26-18 with about 15 minutes remaining in the match. As has been the case in this one, Franciscan was able to kill off the rally with another try by Normandin with a quick tap penalty by Prezzia, who offloaded to Normandin and he again split the defense and notched his fourth try of the match. Gibbons hit the kick after and gave the Barons a comfortable lead at 33-18. They didn't stop there as a blatant dump tackle by Xavier on Anthony Chipps should have resulted in a yellow card but somehow only ended up being a penalty, energized the Barons as Luke Hall took a penalty tap pass by Prezzia and bulldozed his way through half the Xavier team for an emphatic try.Gibbons converted again and upped the lead to 40-18. With little time left, the Barons finished the scoring onslaught with a try by newcomer Matt Patryn who sidestepped a defender and dotted down his first career try to end the game 47-18 Barons.

Andrew Normandin rightfully earned the Golden Man of the Match ball with his 4 tries and endless, hard-nosed ball running. Aidan Gibbons continued to hit his kicks hitting 6 out of 7 attempts as the Barons rolled up 7 tries on the day. Anthony Chipps' has continued his stellar play with consistent running and helping the forwards with their play. Vincent Prezzia continues to captain the team with his passing and high level pace of play. Freshman Mike Kellner and JP Kilmer earned their first career start on the day. Several new players saw their first playing time as Joe Vasquez, Paul Callahan, Nathan Czach, and John Paul Treece logged time in this one. With the 47-18 victory, the Barons earned their first victory of the fall 2023 season. Their overall record stands at 1-1 as they look to begin their conference play this Saturday against Case Western Reserve at 1pm. With several players still nursing injuries, the team is looking forward to seeing what the young lads can continue to do with their playing time.

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