- Head Coach Tony Brown 

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (April 18, 2015) - This was an old fashioned gut-check of a game. Vassar fell behind 17-7 with a team missing a host of starters and with freshmen stepping into key positions. In addition, the sheer bulk of the Hofstra forwards was potentially a major factor and they had good speed on the outside. Vassar would need to monopolize the ball and keep errors to a minimum. They started well enough scoring a good try when Alex Voynow zipped around the back of a lineout but fell off the pace to put themselves in a hole after 40 minutes.

Vassar College Men 38 v 22 Hofstra University Men

Tries: Alex Voynow (3), Kenta Hasui (1), Nich Graham (1), John Loree (1).

Cons: NIch Graham (4).

Freshman Nick Olkovsky continued his rugby education today starting at fullback for the Brewers. High scoring starter Joe Simon was unavailable and Olkovsky, who has played one game at flyhalf and in the center, did pretty well all things considered. He must be more savvy with the ball in hand but he made no serious errors. Freshman Jack Fischer also got his first start, this one at outside center, and he too did well enough on the day despite leaving with a minor injury in the second half.

But it was up front where the questions would be asked of Vassar as freshman Dale Lord and David Wallach were the props for senior Alex Voynow. A big Hofstra pack was intent on driving the Vassar scrum backwards and there were a couple that got shunted back but other than those two the front row more than held their own. Voynow also took a couple of strikes against the head which was frustrating for the visitors.

Vassar's second row forwards, John Loree and Zach Rippe were immense. They repeatedly put their bodies on the line and made solid tackles taking down bigger men. It allowed the slight buy speedy backrow to pilfer and scavenge for the ball. The first 20 minutes was all Vassar and they looked confident with their patterned play. Hofstra also gave away too many penalties at the breakdown and in the driving mauls. In the latter they kept coming around the sides and when the kick was awarded Nich Graham stepped up to push them further back.

But silly unnecessary penalties allowed Hofstra to get a foothold in the Vassar 22 and their big pack bashed gradually forward and Vassar leaked a couple of tries. The heads went down and it seemed that with less than their best lineup the effort required would be too much to earn a win. It was a falsehood because the team had done well at scrums and lineouts, established their pattern of play and gotten over the gain line consistently yet they found themselves down 17-7. A second try from Voynow made it 17-12 at the half and with that score it was clearly evident that this team should win the game.

The weather was very warm and Vassar had played into a strong wind in the first half and now that would be at their backs. Flyhalf Nich Graham has worked hard on his kicking this semester and all year and rather than try to run the ball out of their half in the second period the Brewers made great use of the wind. It did not start well as Jake Sheehy tried to launch attacks from deep only for turnovers to occur but once the scrumhalf reconciled the approach he was invaluable with his service. Graham made a host of long kicks that all went deep behind the Hofstra back 3 and the chase was good enough to force the game to be played inside the Hofstra 22. Very average clearance kicks by the visiting Pride led to Vassar lineouts and they paid dividends.

On the day Voynow scored a hat-trick and with Hofstra not competing Vassar was assured possession. So the screw was turned. 17-12 became 17-17 then 24-17, and 31-17. Hofstra could not get out of their half except on restarts. It was an exceptional day for flyhalf Graham as he managed the second half steering Vassar to the win. He was well complimented by the forwards with their set piece play and the backs who chased and tackled. Matt Brown came on for Crouch and Rippe went to Number 8 and that added to the size and experience of the Vassar pack.

It was finally good to see youngsters like Josh Espada soaring in the lineout and pulling down the ball for Vassar to use. Likewise Dale Lord made good yards on some runs and did not get nudged back in the scrums. Try scorers Kenta Hasui and John Loree worked hard throughout and it is always good to see genuine effort rewarded. Senior Jesse Myhill, despite being under the weather, made some weaving incredible runs and moved in to the center when Fischer went off. He is a one of a kind special player and his contributions were huge.

Squad: 15 Nick Olkovsky 14 Steven Juca 13 Jack Fischer 12 Kenta Hasui 11 Jesse Myhill 10 Nich Graham 9 Jake Sheehy 1 David Wallach 2 Alex Voynow 3 Dale Lord 4 Zach Rippe 5 John Loree 6 Josh Espada 7 Wade Crouch 8 Erik Quinson. Subs: Matt Brown for Wade Crouch, Morris Saxe-Smith for Jack Fischer.

?Next: Saturday April 25, 2015 versus Drew University at Vassar College kick-off 1:00 pm

--VASSAR--