Rugby Defeats Grove City to Advance to Finals

STEUBENVILLE, Ohio—The Baron rugby team of Franciscan University of Steubenville won its first round of postseason competition Saturday afternoon on a muddy home pitch. The ruggers in green and gold triumphed over their Allegheny Rugby Union competitors, Grove City College, 27-5, in the semi-final match. Despite the cold, wet conditions and the absence of head coach Mark Hanrahan, the Barons played an exceptional game.

The Barons entered today’s match as number one seed in the ARU, holding an undefeated record for the season.

“The boys came out with super intensity,” said assistant coach Niall O’Mahoney. “They took control in the first 15 minutes of the match, and they dictated the pace of play throughout the entire game.

Matthew Conohan led the Barons in points with two tries on the day. Matthew Strickland and Josh Ramsammy each contributed a try, and Michael Brasie added a conversion. The Barons also scored with a conversion and a penalty conversion. The Baron offense was unaffected by the slippery conditions of the pitch.

“Franciscan’s line-outs and scrums were really excellent,” noted O’Mahoney. “They were a complete and total team effort.”

The Barons kept Grove City from putting up any points almost the entire match, but the Wolverines managed to score a try in one of the final plays of the day. “To give Grove City their due,” O’Mahoney added, “they never gave up.”

Franciscan defeated Grove City last year in the ARU finals, 46-12.

The Barons improved to an overall record of 7-0-1 on the season. The ruggers will host the winner of Saturday afternoon’s match between Duquesne University and Fairmont State for the ARU finals next Saturday, Nov. 5; a time for the match has not been set, and more details will be released later this week.