Kent, Ohio - The Barons took to the road again this past Saturday, heading north to face off D2 opponent Kent State for their first ever match against each other. It was a sweltering day that could be mistaken for the dog days of summer and not a cool, crisp fall day. Franciscan welcomed back a few players to the fold, with captain Sebastian Bise resuming his duties on the pitch. Freshman Christopher Ascough came back after a one-week hiatus and took up the mantle as the #10. Fellow freshman William Shaifer (Sawyer), was also back and played a new position, donning the #8 jersey in this one. Freshman Milo Klopp joined this year's crop of freshman to play and start, manning the flanker position.

The Barons came out guns blazing, unperturbed by the much bigger Kent St team, as they had several scoring chances in the first 10 minutes of the opening stanza. They were finally able to dot one down after a nifty pick and go by scrumhalf Joseph Moleski, affectionately known as Joe Bob, darting towards the try zone only to put on a dazzling sidestep on the #15 to freeze him as JoeBoB sauntered in to score the easy points under the posts. Ascough tacked on the conversion kick to make it 7-0. Kent St took advantage of a turnover and a few questionable calls by the ref to stake themselves to an easy try, while also converting the kick after-knotting up the score at 7 all. Franciscan was able to re-take the lead on a try by freshman Paul Leerkes, as he snaked his way in for a try from a Joe Bob offload. Ascough converted the kick to give the Barons a 14-7 lead. The Barons squandered away a few more missed opportunities to pad their lead but were unsuccessful with a few connection passes. With minutes left in the first half, Kent St was able to advance the ball on some bad penalties and missed tackles, en route to their second try but they missed the conversion kick after to make the score Franciscan 14 and Kent St 12.

The second half was more of the same with each team having chances to score but not being able to finish phase play. Kent St took advantage of some more bad calls and were able to take the lead-scoring a try but missing the kick after to bump the score to 14-17 Kent St. The Franciscan men were toughing it out and trying to execute their plays and play defense but kept getting called with questionable infringement calls and again lost their composure as Kent State took advantage in the lapse of play by the Barons and quickly scored again. The made conversion gave Kent St a 14-24 lead with less than 20 minutes left. The minutes started to tick down, and Franciscan did itself no favors by getting a yellow card for too many infringements and had to play down a man for the remaining of the match. With their backs against the proverbial wall, the Barons proved resilient as they started to complete their passes and move the ball forward down the pitch. Kent State was starting to wear out and the Barons were able to score a try on an offload by Ascough to freshman Peter Rooney, who touched it down for the score to close the scoring gap to 19-24, with Ascough's tough angled kick missing the mark. The Barons were able to get the ball back with the restart kick and JoeBob made a chip and chase kick and chased after the ball and was able to coral it and continue the momentum that they gained at the end of the match. Ascough took an offload and broke a few tackles and made a sidestep move and ran it in under the post for the try. This tied it up 24-24 with the all-important kick after conversion still to come. Ascough nailed the kick to give the Barons a 26-24 lead and with it, the victory. It was a great win for the program as they beat a good DII team in Kent State and the guys never gave up and continued to work hard despite being down a player and being down 10 points when they made their comeback.

Ascough was named the Golden Man of the Match with his passing, running, and kicking for points that made the difference in a tight game. The Dawg of the match went to Andrew Phelan for his constant tackling and hard runs.

Next up
The Barons now turn their attention to conference play as well as Homecoming week. They will face their longtime rival, Robert Morris at 1pm. Both teams are young, and it should be a great matchup! The match is the first match for both teams in conference play. The winner will have a leg up on the standings as the four Cohen Cup teams start their slate of matches against each other for playoff seeding. The other two teams in the Cohen Cup standing, Slippery Rock and John Carroll, will match up this weekend.

The Barons are looking forward to a huge crowd of friends, families and alumni to show their continued support for the gents in the green and gold.

Men's Rugby ID Camp
Franciscan Men's Rugby is excited to offer a Prospect Camp for aspiring college athletes on Sunday, November 17th. The camp is open to athletes entering 9th-12th grade this Fall. Participants will have the opportunity to receive training from the men's rugby coaching staff, as well as interact with current players. Campers will participate in a typical Franciscan training session and gain an understanding of the competitive and challenging environment of collegiate athletics. For more information click here

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