POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (April 4, 2009) -- Last September the Vassar men fell to Albany 19-10 in Albany. The Brewers had been slow to react when penalties were awarded against them, had been out-hustled , and they were bullied in the contact situations. The opening minutes of this game looked like it might be a carbon copy as Albany hit hard and scored off an early tap penalty to go up 7-0. The Vassar men realized right from the get-go that this was going to be a war. Referee Harley Griffiths would have his plateful as the forward exchanges were not for the faint of heart.

Vassar College Men 18 v University of Albany Men 10
Tries: Adam Steel (1), Garrett Montgomery (1), Tom Szymanski (1).
Pens: Omar Fayyaz (1).

Omar Fayyaz slotted a penalty goal after Albany converted a try early on and with the score at 7-3 the home side was beginning to gain confidence. Aly Massoud was in good form and indeed all the forwards put their bodies on the line in the somewhat wild rucks. It was to prove decisive because the strongest weapon Albany had was massive physical commitment. But fire was met with fire and as the game wore on Vassar showed a little more opportunism.

Last time these teams played Garrett Montgomery was a rookie scrumhalf and Iain Gordon in the second row. This time Gordon was at Number 8 and Montgmery played like a 10 year veteran! The big question mark for Vassar was whether or not the back division would function as a unit. Unavailable due to injury were Connor O'Neill, Conor Boylan, Nick Schmidt, and Miles Fineburg. So Roku Fukui came into flyhalf and did a solid job. He tackled well in defense and with the ball in hand he made good decisions in a timely manner. The Vassar backs struggled to get over the gain line such was the ferocity of the Albany tacklers, particularly in the centers, but Stefan Schwartz and James Purtle kept their composure and did not turn the ball over.

Trailing 7-3 Vassar went left from a scrum and Garrett Montgomery passed beautifully to Adam Steel and the freshman went on a strong weavy run before diving over in the corner. The kick was unsuccessful but Vassar led 8-7.

Albany came back into the picture with some very strong forward surges and they opted to kick a penalty goal right at the end of the first half to take a 10-8 lead. It didn't help matters that Aly Massoud was sin-binned and missed the last 2 minutes of the first half as well as the first 8 of the second. His testosterone level was obviously through the roof as at one point he swan-dived over a ruck to get the scrumhalf. The only thing missing was his cape!

When the teams turned around Vassar had a very strong wind at their backs, with some gusts between 20 and 25 miles per hour. The plan was to kick deep to the left hand corner and then rent an apartment in that part of the field. It proved a very effective tactic as Albany were pinned in their own 22 for long periods. During one such period Garrett Montgomery slipped by a defender after some good pick and driving from the forwards, and he went around a ruck. Although tackled near the goal line he twisted and got the ball down for a 13-10 lead.

Again Albany made a big effort to take the lead but they made a few too many errors at the breakdown so Vassar was able to kick long again and get good field position. A 3-point lead just seemed too slim and things looked even bleaker as Anshu Uppal was sin-binned for coming in at the side of a ruck. So it was a great relief to the watching home fans when senior Tom Szymanski powered over for what was to be the insurance score. The ball was moved to the right after a nice break up the middle and an 18-10 lead with just 5 minutes left meant that Albany would need to score twice. In the end they struggled to get out of their half.

There were countless good performances and each and every player had good moments. Kevin Frodell took a couple against the head. Rhys Bambrick was all over the field making tackles and getting involved. He needs to be more disciplined but no-one can fault his effort. Rupert Johnson was his usual forceful self. He cleaned up loose ball and made big tackles on the fringes.

This was a good win for the squad and hopefully come the return of the injured players will only bolster team confidence.

Team: 15 Omar Fayyaz 14 Adam Steel 13 James Purtle 12 Stefan Schwartz 11 Tom Szymanski 10 Roku Fukui 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.

Team record 2008-09: 7-4-0.

Next: Saturday April 11, 2009 Vassar College Men v Brown University Men kick-off 11:00 am at Vassar Farm.

Vassar College Men "B" 7 v University of Albany Men "B" 52
Tries: Sam Woodle (1).
Cons: Roku Fukui (1).

There's an old expression that best describes games like this one turned out to be - "Christians and Lions." Unfortunately, Russell Crowe was not on the field for Vassar and able to galvanize the gladiators so divided they were conquered. Poor tackling was the major problem but as is more often the case than not it was team cohesion that further contributed to the one-way traffic.

Albany had a number of "A" side players who not only experienced but also good athletes. By that I mean that they were fast, strong, and very composed in contact, when it occurred! The Brewers had their moments and rookie Sam Woodle scored a good try in the second half. But by that stage the party was in full swing among the Albany players. They scored 9 tries and ran out emphatic winners.

Team: 15 James Purtle 14 Richard So 13 Sam Woodle 12 Adam Steel 11 Mike Ilardi 10 Jon Hootnick 9 Danny Thomas 1 Barrington Archer 2 Brian Carvajal 3 Guillermo Farias 4 Tyler Blake 5 Dave Chase 6 Hal Moore 7 Kornel Krysa 8 Andrew Massey. Subs: Omar Fayyaz for James Purtle, Roku Fukui for Adam Steel.