PORTSMOUTH, RI (April 19, 2009) -- Vassar was in a group with The College of New Jersey and Salve Regina and needed to win both games to advance to the single elimination stage of the championship. They started well enough winning with no difficulty against the College of New Jersey. But the Brewers were upset by Salve Regina in a game that was raged at best and very poorly officiated and in those instances it doesn't seem to pay to know the laws!

However, on day two, Vassar bounced back and earned a victory against a very physical and spirited Colby College. It was a close affair and a try apiece meant a 7-5 win for the Brewers. But with both tries being scored in the final few minutes it was a dramatic finale. The Brewers are 9-6 on the year with one final game to play next weekend against Marist College.

Saturday April 18, 2009 - Game 1
Vassar College Men 24 v College of New Jersey 3
Tries: Omar Fayyaz (1), James Purtle (1), Aly Massoud (1), Will Thanhauser (1).
Cons: Omar Fayyaz (2).

Tournament games are always difficult. First, they have shortened halves so mistakes are magnified with less time to rectify errors. Second the fields at the Beast of the East have their own unique identities. Some slope, all are a bit small, and then of course there is the fact that the players don't run out of steam. One of the beauties of the game is that it is a test of endurance but tournament first games can be crazy fast and furious.

But Vassar immediately imposed their pattern of play and the College of New Jersey never showed any significant shape to their play. Vassar fullback Omar Fayyaz was ever busy and scored the opening try when he darted down the narrow side. The center pairing of Schwartz and Keeble was also comfortable and up front the forwards laid a solid foundation.

Freshman James Purtle added Vassar's second as the scrum took ball against the head and it was a real blow to Vassar's chances that they lost Kevin Frodell in the second half to a knee injury. Rookie Brian Carvajal came on and looked promising but Frodell is an experienced campaigner who is a vital cog in the pack.

The game was a good start to the tournament as the Brewers had earned a victory and gotten the bus journey out of their system.

Team: 15 Omar Fayyaz 14 James Purtle 13 Ryan Keeble 12 Stefan Schwartz 11 Tom Szymanski 10 Connor O'Neill 9 Garrett Montgomery 1 Winston Clement 2 Kevin Frodell 3 Rhys Bambrick 4 Rupert Johnson 5 Anshu Uppal 6 Aly Massoud 7 Will Thanhauser 8 Iain Gordon. Subs: Brian Carvajal for Kevin Frodell, Richard So for Tom Szymanski, Danny Thomas for Garrett Montgomery.

Saturday April 18, 2009 - Game 2
Vassar College Men 0 v Salve Regina Men 14
Vassar kicked off and dominated the first 5 minutes with some strong running and good rucking. Number 8 Iain Gordon picked up from short range after a series of rucks and looked to have scored but he knocked the ball on as he went over the line.

Salve Regina is a Rhode Island school and they had plenty of support on the touchlines. They barracked the referee and along with their players shouted constantly and succeeded in bullying him into making calls in their favor. It was a tense and heated game as both teams were unclear as to what was going to happen at the breakdown.

Salve got a try in the first half that gave then a 7-0 lead going into halftime. Vassar was definitely rattled as the "home team" were being more aggressive and flying into the rucks. The efforts of the players bore little resemblance to rugby it was more a case of murder ball and much of it was down to the referee's ineptitude. Even a blatant late tackle on Vassar's Connor O'Neill that separated his shoulder as he was slide tackled and tripped went unpunished. It was mayhem on the field!

One supposes credit should go to Salve for edging the physical battle but one can only wonder how they will ever win at a higher level when rucks are actually refereed!

Vassar chased the game with time running out and in the last movement of the match Salve scored to seal the win. The whole event had been such a bad advert for the sport it was probably good that only a few had watched the mess unfold.

Team: 15 Connor O'Neill 14 Jon Hootnick 13 Ryan Keeble 12 Stefan Schwartz 11 Omar Fayyaz 10 Connor Boylan 9 Garrett Montgomery 1 Winston Clement 2 Brian Carvajal 3 Rhys Bambrick 4 Rupert Johnson 5 Tyler Blake 6 Adam Steel 7 Will Thanhauser 8 Iain Gordon. Subs: Aly Massoud for Brian Carvajal, James Purtle for Connor O'Neill.

Sunday April 19, 2009
Vassar College Men 7 v Colby College Men 5
Tries: Ryan Keeble (1).
Cons: Omar Fayyaz (1).

Tournament play is hard to be sure and even harder when the games are consolation games. Vassar, out of the championship, took the field against Colby College from Maine and both teams made every effort to win and save face.

Colby had a solid pack and some quick backs but as a team they were probably too keen to offload in the tackle. Numerous passes went to ground or were fumbled and Vassar was able to thwart any serious forward progress they intended.

Colby played up the significant slope on field one and with the wind at Vassar's backs the Brewers just needed to kick deep and pin them back. When they did put kicks in it produced problems for the Colby back 3 but Vassar was unable to turn territory into points! It looked bad for Vassar as the half wore on and they just could not get over the goal-line.

At the half it was still 0-0 and yet 4 or 5 loose balls inside the Colby 22 had not been scooped up and run in by Vassar. The writing seemed to be on the wall.

Colby kicked deep and then from a scrum inside the Vassar 22 Omar Fayyaz broke out down the blindside. He made huge yards and it seemed to give Vassar hope. In addition, Colby for some inexplicable reason, now decided to abandon the kick and kept the ball in hand. Or rather try to keep it in hand! Again poor handling let them down and that allied to some solid Vassar tackling kept them at bay.

In the final 3 minutes the Colby forwards broke down the narrow side and although being held up just inches short of the line a couple of rucks later they squeezed over in the corner. Vassar knew they had to move the ball to their backs and try to find the gaps further away from the breakdown. As the final seconds ticked away Garrett Montgomery threw a lovely pass to Schwartz who then passed to Ryan Keeble and he had a magical run to score under the posts. Fayyaz converted and the game was over! Vassar wins 7-5.

The team had taken a heavy toll in the 3 games. Connor O'Neill - shoulder; Aly Massoud - knee; Kevin Frodell - knee; Miles Fineburg - shoulder; Iain Gordon - ankle; Conor Boylan - wrist; Rupert Johnson - shoulder. So the Brewers returned to Poughkeepsie to fight another day.

Special thanks to Nick Schmidt who did a tremendous job with the team logistics and to all the lads for giving of their time this weekend.

Team: 15 Omar Fayyaz 14 Miles Fineburg 13 James Purtle 12 Ryan Keeble 11 Tom Szymanski 10 Stefan Schwartz 9 Garrett Montgomery 1 Winston Clement 2 Brian Carvajal 3 Rhys Bambrick 4 Rupert Johnson 5 Anshu Uppal 6 Adam Steel 7 Will Thanhauser 8 Aly Massoud. Subs: Tyler Blake for Aly Massoud, Sam Woodle for Miles Fineburg.

Overall record: 9-6-0
Next weekend: Saturday April 25, 2009 versus Marist College at the Farm KO 2:00 pm.