Game #14

Franciscan (6-7 | 3-3 PAC) vs. Allegheny (5-7 | 3-3 PAC) 

Thursday, April 16th | 3:00 p.m.

Frank B. Fuhrer '48 Field | Meadville, PA

Live Stats | Watch | 2026 Roster | 2026 Statistics

The Latest

- The Barons unleashed a scoring barrage on Bethany in their 25-4 Senior Night victory on Saturday

- Senior Ayden Burke led with a career-high five goals and added two assists, while fellow senior Thomas Leblanc also scored a career-high three goals and two assists

- Joseph James and James Masso added four goals and two assists each

- The Barons tied their season-high for goals in a single game and recorded their second-most assists in a game (15)

- Nine different players found the net in the game

- The Barons will travel to Allegheny for a key matchup that will be important for their future playoff hopes

Scouting the Gators

- Allegheny comes into this matchup 5-7, with a 3-3 PAC record

- They are sixth in the conference in goals scored, but they are tied for the second-fewest goals allowed

- Senior attacker JP Rakis is the engine of the team, as he leads the PAC in assists per game (3.50) and points per game (5.67)

- He is also fifth in goals per game (2.17)

- The Gators enter this game on a two-game win streak after losing their previous three

Matchup History

- The Barons have only faced the Gators three times, with Allegheny winning all three matchups

- Last season, the Gators won 19-8 in Steubenville

- JP Rakis led the Gators with four goals and six assists

- For the Barons, Joseph James scored four goals and added two assists

Offense Doing Work

- Franciscan is third in the PAC in goals per game (13.69) and has scored 20+ goals in four of the 12 games this season.

- They lead the PAC in shot percentage at .352.

- With 540 ground balls so far, the Barons have the second-most in the conference.

- They lead the conference in ground balls per game

- Pio Kirk is seventh in the PAC in points per game (3.17) and second in assists per game (1.75)

- Ayden Burke is fifth in the PAC in points per game (3.23) and seventh in goals per game (2.08)

- Joseph James would be first in the PAC in goals per game(4.63) and points per game (6.50) but he has not met the required game total yet

- James Masso would be third in goals per game (2.75) and third in points per game (4.5) but he also has not played enough games

Freshman Putting up Points

- First-year players have almost 40% of all goals and assists this season for the Barons.

- Pio Kirk leads the way with 33 points, including 17 goals and a team-leading 21 assists. 

- He also leads the team in man-up goals with four and is second on the team with 50 ground balls.

- Wyatt Balger is tied with Kirk for fourth on the team in goals (17) and put up four goals in the win over Bethany

Defense Making Plays

-Thomas LeBlanc leads the team in caused turnovers (42) and ground balls (75)

- Leblanc is top-15 in NCAA Division III in caused turnovers per game (3.23)

- John Kirk is third in the PAC in save percentage at .554. His 14.17 saves per game are the third-most in the conference.

- Kirk earned PAC Defensive Player of the Week honors after recording 12 saves and only allowing three goals against Hiram

- He was the first Baron to win PAC weekly honors since Joseph James won Offensive Player of the week on February 23rd

The All-American

- Joseph James has accumulated 244 points so far, the most in program history by a Baron. That is fifth most by a player in PAC history, trailing Zachary Hougan '25 of Grove City

- He has 165 goals in just 36 games played, which is the most in program history. That is the 5th most scored by a PAC player. He is approaching Tyler Britton '25 of Bethany in fourth with 168 goals in the PAC Record Book.

- James is also the program leader in assists with 79, which is 10th most in PAC history

Stay Connected 

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