By Tony Brown
Head Coach

NEW PALTZ, NY (September 22, 2007) -- After only thirty seconds New Paltz scored a good try when they put a forward through the centers and then moved the ball to the left wing. There was an almighty cheer from the home fans as the home team took the lead 7-0 with the conversion, and Vassar was quite simply stunned. But a game is 80 minutes long and over that period Vassar was the more competent team, as the score sheet was to show.

Vassar College Men 45 v SUNY - New Paltz Men 17
Tries: Chris Magnani (1), Tom Szymanski (1), Garrett King (2), Kaedin Jemiolo (1), Luke Parker (1).
Cons: Garrett Montgomery (6).
Pens: Garrett Montgomery (1).

The Hudson Valley is experiencing something of an Indian summer. Beautiful sunshine and temperatures in the eighties make for ideal running conditions, but the lack of rain makes the ground hard and dusty and in the latter stages of this match there were some tired players on both sides.

Vassar struck back immediately to tie the game up when Chris Magnani scored from a scrum just 15 yards out. Freshman, Garrett Montgomery in his first "A" side game slotted the conversion and then added a penalty kick minutes later and Vassar was up 10-7. In fact, the youngster had a good afternoon connecting on 6 conversions and 1 penalty for a perfect day with the foot.

The Vassar forwards began to assert some authority and shunted the New Paltz scrum backwards while also stealing lineout ball. Garrett King took one at the front to initiate some go forward and not long later Conor Boylan put Stefan Schwartz through the middle with a perfectly timed pass. The Vassar fullback ran well and then offloaded to outside center Tom Szymanski who went over. Vassar now led 17-7.

But there was plenty of fight in this New Paltz team and they kept running hard. This game was more physical than last week against Fordham and some big tackles were going in. From a ruck 20 yards out Dan Kalmus and Omar Fayyaz were caught short handed on the narrow side and New Paltz slipped past the out stretched arms of Kalmus to score making it 17-12,

Again Vassar came straight back and Garrett King went over to put the Brewers ahead 24-12 as Montgomery's kicking was spot on. Kaedin Jemiolo drove over late in the first half from a scrum close to the New Paltz line and at the half it was Vassar 31-12.

Vassar needed to score first to keep the New Paltz players on the back foot and that they did. From a penalty play Luke Parker ran through and it was 38-12. But New Paltz kept tackling and working and it took a well-organized lineout to produce the next Vassar score. Garrett King was credited with the try but it was a catch by Mason and a good forward drive that laid the groundwork. So with about 20 minutes left Vassar was out of reach at 45-12. New Paltz never gave up and kept battering forward. They ran hard off the fringes and managed to put runners through the Vassar back division eventually earning a consolation try. The final period of the match was a little messy and although New Paltz threatened, one knew that this result was in the history books. The final score was 45-17 with the try count in favor of Vassar 6 to 3.

It was good to see Vassar's Boylan run hard and threaten the defense and Stefan Schwartz kicked well for touch, apart from one wayward attempt. The Brewers defense must improve for next up is Fairfield University. This is a team that ran Vassar close last spring at the Beast of the East Tournament, a 14-0 win for the Brewers, and they usually have a set of backs with good open field running abilities.

Team: 15 Stefan Schwartz 14 Omar Fayyaz 13 Tom Szymanski 12 James Cantres 11 Garrett Montgomery 10 Conor Boylan 9 Chris Magnani 1 Winston Clement 2 Jeff Rubesin 3 Dan Kalmus 4 Nick Mason 5 Rupert Johnson 6 Luke Parker 7 Kaedin Jemiolo 8 Garret King.
Subs: Iain Gordon for Kaedin Jemiolo, Nick Schmidt for Omar Fayyaz.

Overall record 2007-08: 3-0-0.

Next weekend: Sunday September 30, 2007 Vassar College versus Fairfield University at Vassar College Farm, kickoff 1:00 pm.

Vassar College Men "B" 10 v SUNY - New Paltz Men "B" 17
Tries: Martial Ntamatungiro (1), Rhys Bambrick (1).

In a bruising affair the Vassar men squandered a number of opportunities in the second half and eventually went down 17-10. But they showed some good shape early and were rewarded with tries from left wing Martial Ntamatungiro and prop forward Rhys Bambrick. The former is a silky runner who showed pace and guile and perhaps should have been awarded a second try but for a refereeing error! Bambrick on the other hand bashed his way over from 10 yards rather than attempt any deception his route was confrontational.

New Paltz led 3-0 and then fell behind 5-3 before going up 10-5. Vassar tied it up at 10-10 when Bambrick went over but despite renting an apartment on the New Paltz line for a good portion of the second half the Brewers were denied. In the closing minutes the New Paltz flyhalf ran through untouched and it was 17-10. Vassar even then had a chance to tie the game when Davis Wang made a huge break up the middle, David Fried was in support but the attack was stopped and with it Vassar's last chance for a try.

Team: 15 John Scott 14 Connor O'Neill 13 Brian Waterman 12 Nick Schmidt 11 Martial Ntamatungiro 10 David Fried 9 Danny Thomas 1 Rhys Bambrick 2 Kevin Frodell 3 Andres Gutierrez 4 Iain Gordon 5 Dave Chase 6 Owen Haller 7 Anshu Uppal 8 Davis Wang. Subs: Aly Massoud for Owen Haller, Anthony Pinggera for Martial Ntamatungiro, Mike Ilardi for Brian Waterman, Tony Viti for Connor O'Neill, Richard So for Aly Massoud, Gui Farias for Andres Gutierrez, Nate Orians for Kevin Frodell, Ethan Fischer for Anthony Pinggera, Richard So for Tony Viti.

"B" side record 2007-08: 1-2-0.

Next weekend: Sunday September 30, 2007 Vassar "B" versus Fairfield University "B" at Vassar College Farm, kickoff 2:30 pm.