ALBANY, NY (October 12, 2013) – A win for the Vassar Women would have put them as the number 2 seed in the conference playoffs in the Northern Division but despite a very promising start, and holding the lead, the second 40 minutes was less impressive. In the end Albany scored 4 tries to Vassar's 1 and it leaves the Brewers as the number 3 seed for the October 26th playoff.

Vassar College Women 5 v 20 University at Albany Women
Tries: Cierra Thomas (1).

It was a beautiful sunny day in upstate New York and apart from an irrigation system mal-function that meant the sprinklers were on the conditions were perfect for rugby.

Vassar came out of the blocks and dominated possession and territory but was thwarted by some dogged tackling and a good deal of offsides. The forwards ran well off the fringes and Margaret Kwateng was able to get the ball to them consistently. But after about 25 minutes all the Brewers had to show for their efforts was a single try scored by center Cierra Thomas. Vassar also had Albany pinned on their own goal line but the home team managed to survive.

Vassar probably should have scored at the very least another try and probably 2. Albany gladly accepted their "Get out of jail free" card and finally managed to apply some pressure. They picked and drove using the forwards and eventually went over in the far left hand corner. So the score at the half was 5-5.

Vassar did not cope with the chaotic rucks as they might have done and it led to the ball being spread wide. This suited the home team as too often the Vassar backs were isolated and it led to turnovers. It made for a tough second half but even when Albany scored to go up 10-5 the Brewers made some big inroads with Dallas Robinson and Meg Slattery slicing up the middle. Thomas too had some good runs and both Anne Fritzson and Laila Blumenthal-Rothchild got into the action making tackles and handling the ball. In the final 15 minutes Albany scored one very soft try as the Vassar backs missed their assignments and another score put the game out of reach.

Next week Vassar face Rutgers University and it may well be a dress rehearsal for the first round of the playoffs on October 26th! They will need to be far more aggressive in the rucks and show a lot more discipline with their pattern of play.
Team: 15 Laila Blumenthal-Rothchild 14 Anne Fritzson 13 Natalie Ward 12 Cierra Thomas 11 Mary Margaret McElduff 10 Shira Idris 9 Margaret Kwateng 1 Darienne Jones 2 Emma Elbaum 3 Kathleen Gould 4 Anna Carias 5 Rachel Thompson 6 Hannah Fink 7 Meg Slattery 8 Dallas Robinson.  Subs: Mariah Ghant for Kathleen Gould, Taylor Nunley for Anna Carias, Nathalie Freeman for Rachel Thompson.

Overall record: 3-2-0.

Next: Saturday October 19th, 2013 at Rutgers University in Piscataway, NJ kick-off 1:00 pm