Butler, Pa. - The Barons 7's Rugby team headed to Butler, PA over the weekend to partake in one more 7's tournament, with an eye of possibly sneaking into nationals with an at large bid, depending on the outcome of the tournament. It was not in their favor on a chilly and cloudy day. The Barons faced off against defending 7's National champs, Slippery Rock, who has already qualified for CRCs by winning two automatic qualifying tournaments. The Rock has a very good squad with starters that have played collectively over the last 3 years, and having that kind of chemistry and experience is vital in 7's. They are the heavy favorites to repeat as National champs this spring. The Barons held strong for the first 2 minutes, but a missed tackle led to a try for the Rock and a 7-0 that they would add to in bunches. An injured Baron shortened the bench soon after that and it was Slippery Rock the rest of the way with a 47-0 lost. The youth and inexperience along with SRU's vast experience and 7's knowledge was a recipe for a disaster.

The Barons, however, would not be deterred and instead used the emotions from the lost to take it out on WVU with their next match. They went up quickly 14-0 at the half, with tries by Paul Thibault and a long run by Paul Leerkes. The second half was a different story, with a questionable yellow card by the Barons on a tackle that punched the ball away but was called for as a high tackle, leaving them a man short and a penalty try for the Mountaineers, making the score 14-7. The Barons were still able to punch one in with Leerkes getting his second try of the match. Another yellow card quickly after that led to the Mountaineer's second try of the match to make it 21-14. Joseph Moleski (Joe Bob) nailed all three conversion kicks. When time was up, the Barons secured a 21-14 win and advanced to the semifinals where they would face 2 time 7's National Champs, IUP, who have also qualified for CRCs.

IUP won their pool A with wins over Kent State and a tie with John Carroll but took the first seed due to point differential. With the Barons down to 7 guys for the match, they had to gut it out. For their part the Barons played well in this one. They kept up with IUP in the first half, moving the ball better and finding space. IUP went up 12-0 but Thibault came back with a try of his own. Joe Bob converted the kick. IUP scored two more times in the second half to take a 24-5 victory. IUP would defeat Slippery Rock 24-5 in the finals to win the ARU 7's Championship.

This 7's season, while not ending with a chance at Nationals, was still a success as the Barons saw 9 players play 7's for the first time. Ben Baska was the only returning starter from last year so to have that continuity was important and it's something that the Barons will look to have next spring as they build on their successful 7's season. The team will lose two seniors-Nick and Matt Patryn, who will be sorely missed in both 15s and 7's next spring. With the promise of 6 freshman getting ample playing time, the hope is that the future will bring more success to the 7's program as they build on their current team. Franciscan will look towards the 15s season this fall as they welcome new players to the team and return a lot of young players to the roster.
 

Tournament Recap

Vs Slippery Rock 47-0 L

Tough one in this match. The Barons started out well but couldn't stay with it and gave up some easy scores. Slippery Rock's defensive pressure, specifically off the restart, caused a few mistakes and set up opportunities for the Rock to cash in on.

Vs West Virginia University 21-14 W

The Barons were able to move on from the last match and played a much better and cohesive game. They passed better and played good defense. Paul Leerkes led the way with two tries.

Tries scored: Paul Leerkes (2); Paul Thibault (1)

Assists: Joe Bob (2); Paul Thiabult (1)

Vs IUP 24-5 L

Another match against a CRC qualified team and one that is D2, Franciscan held firm for most of the match. They went down 12-0 and battled back to make it 12-5 on Paul Thibault's try. But IUP's firepower was too much, The Barons showed a lot of dignity and passion in the match.