POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (April 18, 2010) -- Following the first quarter of play on Sunday, it looked as though the Vassar College men's rugby team would be swept in the season series against Marist College, however the Brewers protected a one-point lead with a late try to earn a 32-26 victory at the Farm.

In the fall, Vassar lost to Marist, despite leading at the half 17-14. In that second half they shipped five tries and fell 39-17 and it didn't look any more promising in the opening quarter of this spring match-up. Vassar was falling off tackles and making mistakes that allowed Marist to feel matters would go the same way again. But the Brewers pulled this one out of the fire when Zach Kent scored at 27-26 and made it 32-26. So Vassar avenged their fall loss and finished winners by a six-point margin.

Vassar College Men 32 v Marist College Men 26
Tries: Jake London (1), Barrington Archer (1), Adam Steel (1), & Zach Kent (1).
Cons: Jake London (3).
Pens: Jake London (2).

Vassar had reshuffled their backs and the plan was to move Varsity Soccer goalkeeper Jake London to 10 and utilize his big boot to force Marist onto the back foot. But while London's kicking out of hand left a bit to be desired he still managed a haul of 17 points and led the Brewers to a handy win over local rivals Marist.

London got Vassar's first try and converted it after the Brewers had fallen behind 5-0. Marist tended to offload and play at a fast pace which was exciting but they were prone to errors. But after just a couple of minutes they went over with some good support and handling. Marist was playing confidently and Vassar was hesitant with their tackling but luckily for the home team there were quite a few knock-ons and forward passes that stopped attacks.

Vassar settled down a bit, went through some phases and got control that allowed them to score a second try. It was a popular one as prop forward Barrington Archer bludgeoned his way over near the posts. At 14-5 one felt that Vassar could subdue their opponents as long as they controlled the ball. But unfortunately the Brewers let Marist back into the game with some silly mistakes. Some penalties and a wayward kick made it 14-12 and then just before the half with the momentum having truly shifted it was 14-19 in favor of Marist. The main culprit was arm tackling rather than total commitment, i.e. burying one's shoulder into an opponents' mid-section and driving them backwards!

The second half saw Vassar's James Purtle do a good job of maintaining possession, chasing kicks, and making solid tackles. Adam Steel too was tackling and trying to get his hands on the ball a la George Smith. But it was from a moment of pure instinct that Vassar's next try came from as halfback Conor Boylan took a quick penalty and changed the momentum of the game. At the ensuing ruck Steel was on hand to dart over ducking under defenders to make it 21-19 after London's conversion.

Vassar began to get territory and Marist started to give away penalties. London punished them twice and added 6 points so the score stood at 27-19.

Marist just would not go quietly and as befits any local derby they came storming back. But it was an errant kick from Boylan that gave them the ball and ked to the try that made it 27-26. It set up a grandstand finish for the second week in a row at the Farm. It was great to see Zach Kent dive over after some decent passing along the line and Vassar had sealed the win.

Team: 15 Brett Anker 14 Nic Placeres 13 Stefan Schwartz 12 James Purtle 11 Zach Wasser 10 Jake London 9 Conor Boylan 1 Tyler Blake 2 Hal Moore 3 Barrington Archer 4 Andrew Massey 5 CJ LeSueur 6 Ian Ruginski 7 Adam Steel 8 Iain Gordon. Subs: Zach Kent for Nic Placeres & Kendall Coleman for Zach Wasser.

Overall record 2009-10: 5-10-1 .
Next weekend: Saturday April 24, 2010 versus Montclair State University Men - Kickoff 2:00 pm

Vassar College Men "B" 5 v Marist College Men "B" 20
Tries: Adam Steel (1).

In what was a bruising and physical encounter Vassar was just not able to match-up against a strong Marist "B" team. Despite plenty of possession Vassar was losing the battle at the point of contact. Marist added in some very direct running and ran in 4 tries to Vassar's solitary effort.
Team: 15 Russell Webner 14 Jerry Dieudonne 13 Nick Campbell-Seremitis 12 Adam Kardon 11 Kendall Coleman 10 Zach Wasser 9 Zach Kent 1 Jehan Shams 2 Brian Carvajal 3 Nik Goldberg 4 Brandon Greene 5 Sam Thomas 6 Aaron Colton 7 Alan Kenney 8 Matt Elisofon. Subs: Adam Steel for Zach Kent.