STEUEBENVILLE, OHIO - The Franciscan Barons rugby team hosted a semifinal match over the weekend against Hillsdale College. The first day of November was a sunny, but blustery day with winds swirling around the rugby pitch as both teams geared up for a spot in the ARU Championship on November 8th.

The Barons came out firing as their nonstop defensive pressure put the Chargers on their backheels and forced several turnovers in the first 20 minutes. Christopher Ascough started things off with a pick and go off a turnover and dotted the ball down for a quick 5-0 lead with Ascough missing the difficult angled kick conversion. Joe Bob made a great head's up play, intercepting a ball from the Hillsdale #10 off the scrum set piece and racing down the field and setting up the try for Paul Wolf, who scored his first try of the season with an offload from Jacob Leerkes off the ruck, and once again the wind sailed Ascough's kick wide, as the Barons led 10-0. Dominic Grecol continued his scoring spree as he executed a pick and go and downed the ball for his first try of the match and Ascough was able to slot the kick conversion through to bump the lead to 17. Ascough scored his second try of the match with an offload from Brendan Lacey and again the kick conversion blew wide with the help of the wind and the score was 22-0, 13 minutes into the match. Paul Leerkes, scored on a nifty pick, reading the offense and snaring the ball out of the air on a Hillsdale offload. Joseph Moleski (Joe Bob) attempted the kick conversion and converted it giving the Barons a commanding 27-0 lead. Grecol scored his second try off a penalty quick tap and Joe Bob missed the kick conversion, leaving the Barons at 32-0. Ascough finished off the Barons scoring spree with a try off an 8 man pick up from the scrum and he converted the kick to enlarge the lead to 39-0, with 20 minutes left to play in the half. The Barons started to relax a bit and Hillsdale found its groove and punched in two tries of their own, both of which were not converted, and the whistle sounded for the end of the 1st half, with the Barons up 39-10.

The second half had a bit less action as both teams took turns possessing the ball and the Barons seemed to be content in playing out the string. Grecol scored two more tries in the 2nd half and once again the wind wreaked havoc on the kicking conversions as Joe Bob had both kick attempts sail wide. Hillsdale scored one more try and with a kick conversion the final was 49-17.

With the victory, the Barons earned a spot in the ARU Championship match for the 5th straight year, and will clash with Slippery Rock once again for the championship. Slippery Rock has won the last three years and will be looking for a "4-peat" as the Barons will be looking for their first conference championship since 2019.

The winner will get the ARU #1 seed and move on to Columbus, OH for the Midwest Regionals. The runner-up will play a "play-in qualifier" on November 15th against the MARC conference runner-up for a spot to the South Regionals. The Barons will travel to Butler, PA at the Pullman Sports Complex for an 11:30 a.m. kickoff time against Slippery Rock. The Barons would like to thank the fans, families, and friends for their continued support of the team throughout the fall season! 

Tries: Grecol (4); Ascough (3); Wolf (1); P. Leerkes (1);

Assists: J. Leerkes (1); B. Lacey (1)