FAIRFIELD, CT (November 10, 2013) - In the regular season Vassar played a poor game against Seton Hall University and really was soundly beaten to the tune of 22-14. Captain Andrew Jdaydani injured his shoulder and had to leave the field but basically poor tackling and the fact that it was game two of the year were the main contributing factors. So for this semi-final match-up the Brewers knew they had to perform and that they faced a confident opponent.
Vassar College Men 13 v Seton Hall University Men 12
Tries: Karl Foley (1) & Andrew Jdaydani (1).
Pens: Nich Graham (1).
This one went right down to the wire and in an evenly fought contest Vassar squeaked home by the narrowest of margins. The first 10 minutes saw Vassar tackle well and when Zach Rippe earned a turnover Vassar went through the phases and was camped on the Seton Hall goal-line. It was only some desperate defense from Seton Hall that prevented Jdaydani scoring and then Brian Heil dropped a pass with the line begging. In the end Vassar had to settle for a penalty goal and Nich Graham obliged with a well-struck kick. Vassar's 3-0 lead did not stand for long.
From the re-start Seton Hall managed to gain possession when Jdaydani picked at Number 8 and was very slow to place the ball. Two phases later a simple pass outflanked the Vassar defense and the Seton Hall Number 8 strode in for a simple try and a 7-3 lead.
Vassar kicked-off and immediately applied pressure with some good driving play and they began to threaten the Pirate defense. But again even though they were right on the goal line they were unable to punch it over. Geoff Matthes dropped the ball just as he was about to ground it but the referee was playing advantage so Vassar had another opportunity. Matthes has come on well in this his first season playing but he was not a happy camper after that drop! Karl Foley ignored the possible 3 points on offer and after a couple of phases he dived over to score Vassar's first try and regain the lead 8-7.
Seton Hall's Number 8 is a talented player and he caught the re-start to immediately put the Vassar defense on the back foot. But at a subsequent ruck the Hall was penalized for coming in at the side and Nich Graham cleared the ball downfield. Graham has a fairly decent foot and he was making good contact with the ball. There was also a strong breeze blowing so considerable distance was gained. The half finished at 8-7 to Vassar.
Seton Hall now had the wind at their backs and held the territorial edge. Vassar defended stoutly but as the half wore on the 1-point lead seemed ever less likely to hold up. Fortunately, Karl Foley did a good job catching the Hall Number 8 from behind at scrums and some solid tackles kept Vassar from conceding points.
But wave after wave of Seton Hall attacks kept coming and finally a chink in the armor appeared and Hall's Number 8 scored with the try going unconverted. Now the number 2 seed had the lead 12-8 with about 7 minutes remaining in the game.
A few choice words from Coach Griffiths to the captains seemed to jolt them into action and Vassar quickly established field position in the Hall 22. It was desperate times and first Foley looked to have gone over but was penalized for holding on and then center Brian Heil dived in between the posts but was deemed to have knocked-on the ball. It seemed that all was lost but there was still time. Vassar took a strike against the head and was now right in front of the Seton Hall posts but a knock-on allowed Hall to relieve the pressure. Vassar stole a third Seton Hall lineout in succession and then went through multiple phases. Seton Hall kept giving away penalties as they desperately defended their line.
The Vassar players kept picking and driving making short gains as they hammered forward in search of the winning try. The clock was ticking down and a last gasp tap from Foley followed by a pass to Jdaydani saw the Vassar Number 8 dive for the line and it was 13-12, game over!
It was a true nail-bitter and could have gone either way although Vassar had made hard work of it by missing earlier opportunities.
Team: 15 Seamus Taylor 14 Jacob Adelgren 13 Brian Heil 12 Jerry Dieudonne 11 Jesse Myhill 10 Nich Graham 9 Karl Foley 1 Geoff Matthes 2 John Loree 3 Louis Khourey 4 Zach Rippe 5 Sean O'Connell 6 Kenta Hasui 7 Justin Nam 8 Andrew Jdaydani.
Next: Sunday November 10, 2013 (same day) Tri-State Championship Game versus Marist College KO 2:00 pm
Collegiate record: 7-2-0
Overall record: 7-3-0 (includes Alumni game)
