Franciscan 5, La Roche 0

Starting XI
Zachary Muldoon, Kolbe Rice, Joseph St. George, Augustine Rubino, Anthony Venditti, Julien Freeman, Joshua Atkinson, Lucas Cross, Ryan Miller, Daniel Wayert, & Goalkeeper - Aiden Miller 

How It Happened 
    Freeman helped kick things off finding Cross running up the left side on a quick counter attack after a turnover at midfield. Freeman's long leading pass was played perfectly between Cross and the defender. After running down the ball all he had between himself and pay-dirt was the goalkeeper. Cross and goal-scoring is something you should be/get used to reading about. So unsurprisingly, Cross completed the play and the Barons took an early 1-0 lead. 
    That one goal lead was a slim margin that the Redhawks held onto for a very long time. Possession was fairly even and the constant back-and-forth of the possession flipping wore on the athletes. On the hot, humid evening multiple athletes cramped up and had to exit. Exhaustion was evident even early in the contest. The closely contested match plus two teams of exhausted athletes usually does and did equal some physical and often chippy play. Seven yellow cards were handed out on the evening five to the Rehawks and two to the Barons. I'll give large credit to the composure and maturity from some young Baron players for handling the contest. Through blatant excessive and often unnecessary physical contact, the Barons pushed forward trusting their game plan and their abilities to win the game. Muldoon received the first Baron yellow card for running over a player as he was running down the field. Muldoon was looking up trying to track the ball in the air as he sprint. He accidentally ran into a much smaller Redhawk and was awarded a yellow. Freeman was the second Baron yellow card. His situation was almost a carbon-copy. Freeman was chasing a long ball tracking towards the front of the net. He flew past the back line fo defenders and leaped to attempt a header into the net. His jump was slightly early and he was staring backward while in the air tracking the ball. Before the ball arrived he collided with the goalkeeper in the air knocking him down and leaving him dazed for a minute. 
    Finally, after 60 minutes of brutally physical play, Cross found the back of the net again. A 2-0 lead with 30 minutes remaining in soccer is by no means a large lead, and should not be a back-breaking goal. However, after fighting for 60 minutes and pushing your limits, as evident by the 5 yellows, the Redhawks seemed to have broke. The Barons added goals in the 73' (Wayert), 79' (Cross), and 85' (Mahoney). 
    A 5-0 win on paper seems like a blowout that the Barons easily walked through, but for everyone in attendance for 70 minutes the game felt like a nil-nil tie in a championship game. The final result is testament to the Baron composure and discipline.

Inside the Numbers  
-Mahoney's goal is the third of his career
-Cross' hat-trick is the first hat-trick of his successful career
-Wayert has scored back-to-back goals in the opening two games of his Franciscan career
-Aiden Miller recorded three saves in his second shutout of the season

Who's Next?
Franciscan will return to action on the road at Capital on Wednesday night. This is just the second time that the Barons and Comets have played each other. Last season in Steubenville, Capital took the win by a score of 3-2. Augustine Rubino scored both goals for the Barons in the opening half to hold a 2-1 lead at the half. Capital won 10 games last season, but this is their first season with Head Coach Corey Kirk.

Stay Connected 
Be sure to follow Franciscan Athletics on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for the most in-depth coverage.