POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (September 21, 2013) - The Vassar Women had a massive wake-up call as they fell to 1-1 on the season and were swept aside by local rivals Marist College. At the half it was 29-0 and heads were down as the Brewers had spent most of the first 40 minutes chasing shadows. Marist certainly had speed out wide and dominated the scrum but it was a straightforward day at the office for them as Vassar chose not to make tackles consistently.

Vassar College Women 0 v 53 Marist College Women

Marist took an early lead when their speedy left wing found space and skipped around the outside to score and make it 5-0. Vassar had shown that when they had the ball and kept it they could make headway but the Marist defense held. There was a real eagerness about the Marist players and they quickly realized that if they could get ball and work it wide they had the ability to get around the Vassar defense.

It was quite ironic then that they actually ended up running right through the Vassar defenders and their third and fourth tries were as simple as can be. Marist players ran from deep weaving their way through the outstretched Vassar arms! One kick-off was caught and returned the length of the field for a score! This is just unacceptable.

Vassar needed to keep the ball but too often they turned it over with lack of support at the breakdown or a poor pass being the main culprits.

As a player it can be hard to read of the shortcomings and one doesn't mean to imply that every tackle was missed. There were moments of control in attack just as there were tackles made by each team member. But the game demands intensity, consistency, and concentration. Vassar had these qualities only in spurts and then never throughout the whole team at the same time.

All players have to want to dominate and compete physically. Tackling and rucking are the main components that must be mastered.

Meg Slattery, filling in at 9, did admirably while Natalie Ward made a slew of good tackles, Dallas Robinson carried strongly, and Cierra Thomas showed some combative running late in the game.

The Vassar lineout worked well and was a reliable source of possession. The rookies too had some highlights with Kathleen Gould tackling well, Taylor Nunley battling throughout, and Mary Margaret McElduff catching a difficult kick.

Late in the game Mia Fermindoza injured her knee and had to be replaced but it is hoped she'll be back sooner rather than later.

All in all this was a humbling experience but now everyone knows it takes all 15 players tackling consistently and being abrasive in the rucks to be successful.

There are just 4 more conference games and this squad needs to work incredibly hard to be competitive.

Team: 15 Emma Kading 14 Mary Margaret McElduff 13 Natalie Ward 12 Cierra Thomas 11 Mia Fermindoza 10 Shira Idris 9 Meg Slattery 1 Mariah Ghant 2 Kathleen Gould 3 Darienne Jones 4 Anna Carias 5 Dallas Robinson 6 Taylor Nunley 7 Claire Oxford  8 Rachel Thompson.  Subs: Laila Blumenthal for Anna Carias & Wanda Noonan for Mia Fermindoza.


Overall record: 1-1-0.

Next: Saturday September 28th, 2013 versus SUNY-Binghamton at Vassar College Farm, kick-off 12:00 noon.

Vassar College Women "B" 0 v Marist College Women "B" 12

This was a debut for a number of rookies and they certainly acquitted themselves well given their level of experience. They were fortunate to have some more experienced players to help out and kudos to those individuals who played so that this game could take place.

Nathalie Freeman was a real nuisance and made her tackles. Lauren Workman also put in some good first up hits and Laila Blumenthal-Rothchild was solid with her hits. All the rookies "put themselves about" and have laid the foundations for improvement.

That the team didn't score was not through lack of effort and they will all have learned a lot about the game and themselves today.

Team: 15 Meg Slattery 14 Parisa Halaji-Dezfuli 13 Laila Blumenthal-Rothchild 12 Sylvia Haigh 11 Natalie Ward 10 Ellen Quist 9 Shira Idris 1 Lauren Workman 2 Nathalie Freeman 3 Lizzie Bennett 4 Taylor Nunley 5 Emily Bender 8 Wanda Noonan. Subs: Rachel Thompson for Meg Slattery, Claire Oxford for Taylor Nunley.