KINGSTON, NY (October 27, 2012) - The Brewers travelled for their pen-ultimate regular season Tri-State Conference game against local rivals SUNY-New Paltz in a 39-7 win. The Hawks' rugby field is under repair so the Hudson Valley Rugby Club hosted the game. Three tries in the first half gave Vassar a 15-0 lead but when New Paltz scored early in the second to make it 15-7 it looked like this would be a real dog fight.

Vassar College Men 39 v 7 SUNY-New Paltz Men
Tries: Andrew Jdaydani (4), Tom Rafferty (1), Alan Kenney (1), & Nick
Placeres (1).
Cons: Nick Graham (2).

The opening 15 minutes of this game saw the New Paltz team monopolize the ball. In that time period they won 13 rucks to Vassar's five, kicked the ball three times in behind the Vassar backs, won three of their own scrums, and created three turnovers.  Vassar not only defended quite well but more importantly only conceded one penalty.

The Brewers handled each of the attacks and when the Hawks were penalized Nick Graham stepped up to push them back with a couple of deep kicks. The Vassar fullback, Graham, had another solid game and was particularly noticeable not only for his new blond hairstyle but also perhaps more significantly for his defensive qualities.

The 0-0 deadlock was broken when the New Paltz flyhalf kicked across the field from just inside his own half for his left wing to chase. But Vassar center Zach Kent gathered the loose ball and calmly made it available at the ruck with good support from the forwards and scrumhalf Karl Foley made a pass to Andrew Jdaydani down the blindside. The Vassar Number eight fended off the wing and outpaced the defense to run in the try from the halfway line. It was a deflated New Paltz team that gathered behind the line for a post-mortem.

The next 15 minutes was very much the same! Vassar caught the kick-off but was turned over at the first ruck and New Paltz won five rucks in a row then kicked ahead. Vassar held the ball for five rucks before making an error and so New Paltz went through five rucks before a knock-on led to a Vassar scrum. New Paltz had been kept in the area between the halfway and the 22, gone through 10 phases of play and then that man Jdaydani picked up again and ran 60 yards for a try, not converted, and Vassar led 10-0.

New Paltz have always played with great heart and spirit and they came storming back. They opted to pick and drive and again they held the ball for a considerable time. In fact they won 13 rucks and came with in a yard of the Vassar line but a turnover allowed Akeel St. Vil to kick to touch and relieve the pressure. New Paltz won the lineout but two rucks later they knocked the ball on and Vassar took full advantage. The Brewers went through seven phases from their own 10-meter line with backs and forwards carrying the ball before lock Tom Rafferty scored to make it a three-try lead. This third try was pretty special, for the Vassar team had just moments before been on their own goal line and yet it was New Paltz once again gathered under their posts down another score.

But the first half had seen Vassar give the ball up too many times to feel comfortable. Players went to ground and when they placed the ball the quick New Paltz defenders easily poached it. Vassar tallied nine open field turnovers and had these been put to better use the score line would not have been so flattering.

So the team turned around with Vassar up 15-0 and visiting alumni Winston Clement and Garrett Montgomery, both former team captains, must have been somewhat impressed.

New Paltz made a good start to the second half and their center slipped between the Vassar defenders to run 50 yards and a try from a ruck in midfield after Vassar dropped a pass. The conversion made it 15-7 and gave the home side reason for optimism.

Vassar had a short spell of craziness with players knocking the ball on and passing wildly and they managed to get down to the New Paltz 22. They were held up just short of the goal line and from a scrum five meters out the New Paltz number nine made an ill advised break down the blindside only for Nic Placeres to rob him of the ball and dive in for a crucial try. Vassar led 22-7 and with Dan Flynn starting to get the better of his opposite number the writing was on the wall for the Hawks.

Vassar's Andrew Jdaydani scored the next try to make it 27-7 after some very good phases involving forwards and backs and he added a fourth try later to round-off a superlative performance. He is not a big lad but he has a big heart and he would most certainly have earned man-of the-match had there been such an award. Ian Ruginski and Flynn tackled well and generally the defense looked solid from all the players.

Alan Kenney did his usual thing darting through a ruck for a try and at the close of play Vassar had earned a good win. The team well knows that there are still tougher games ahead with Marist coming to the Farm next Sunday and then the semi-final of the Conference on November 11. This was a step in the right direction but fewer turnovers are critical for the next month.

Team: 15 Nick Graham 14 Jesse Myhill 13 Elliot Baker 12 Zach Kent 11
Ben Chipkin 10 Akeel St. Vil 9 Karl Foley 1 Joe Karpman 2 Jehan Shams
3 Dan Flynn 4 Ian Ruginski 5 Tom Rafferty 6 Nic Placeres 7 Alan Kenney
8 Andrew Jdaydani. Subs: Jerry Dieudonne for Jesse Myhill, Riley
McCabe for Ben Chipkin, Eli Vargas for Zach Kent, Parker Reeves for
Nic Placeres, Alex Voynow for Dan Flynn.

Next: Sunday November 4, 2012 versus Marist College at Vassar College
Farm kick-off 11:00 a.m.
Overall record: 6-0-0.

When it rains it pours! The Vassar rookies have worked hard this fall. On this dry and unseasonably warm day, in the shadow of the Catskills, they reaped their reward and it was quite a harvest! The Brewers scored 8 tries with Riley McCabe adding the extras to the tune of six conversions and the final score was 52 -15.

Vassar College Men “B” 52 v 15 SUNY-New Paltz Men “B”
Tries: Roman Kopit (1), Hayden Moon (1), Jonathan Chu (1), Jake Sheehy
(2), Riley McCabe (1), Alan Hagins (1), Alex Voynow (1).
Cons: Riley McCabe (6).
It seemed that this was going to be a banner day for the Brewers “B” side when after just five minutes talisman lock Roman Kopit dived over to put Vassar ahead 5-0. The flamboyant language fellow dislocated his finger as he scored but he immediately popped it back into place himself, as one would expect of this can-do player!

The Vassar forwards were superior in the loose with good ball placement and strong rucking. This meant that the backs had a wonderful platform and good quality ball from which to launch their attacks.

Scrumhalf Jake Sheehy added to his tally of tries this season with another brace and it was good to see Hayden Moon scampering down the field getting an excellent try as he has just returned from injury. Fullback Alan Hagins had a breakout day as he put together some strong defense with a couple of bone-jarring tackles and scored a try. The Vassar centers Vargas and Heil were providers on this day and did a good job of maintaining the ball in contact.

Number eight Joanthan Chu scored Vassar's third try as he gave a wonderful impersonation of Jdaydani. He picked from a scum and ran a full 40 meters to go in under the posts. Hooker Alex Voynow stole a number of strikes against the head and this win will have done much to improve all the players' confidence.

Team: 15 Alan Hagins 14 Kenta Hasui 13 Brian Heil 12 Eli Vargas 11
Hayden Moon 10 Riley McCabe 9 Jake Sheehy 1 John Winton 2 Alex Voynow
3 Parker Reeves 4 Roman Kopit 5 Zach Rippe 6 Max  Astruc 7 Matt Brown
8 Jonathan Chu. Subs: Louis Khourey for Zach Rippe, John Loree for
Jonathan Chu, Stoddard Meigs for Riley McCabe, David Kim for Eli
Vargas, Justin Nam for Kenta Hasui, Josh Bruce for Hayden Moon, Zach
Kudman for Jonathan Chu.