For Immediate Release
 
College Rugby
 
Portsmouth, RI
Saturday & Sunday April 14 & 15, 2018
 
Vassar Men at The Beast of the East Tournament
 
The Beast of the East Collegiate Rugby Tournament is big, really big! In fact, this year there were 63 teams competing in 6 divisions over two days, on 6 rugby fields with a total of 136 games played in Portsmouth, RI. Each game is two 20 minute halves and in order to be successful it takes a squad effort.
 
The Vassar Women traveled with 32 players, the Vassar Men had 23 and both would have a good first day. The women, playing in the Division I bracket, were up against 5 other teams and on Saturday Vassar faced Boston College Women and Buffalo State Women in their group play. On the other side of the draw were the University of Connecticut Huskies, UMass., Amherst and Bishops University from Quebec, Canada.
 
The Vassar Men competed against Central Connecticut State University Men and the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth Men in group play. There being 20 teams in this bracket the quarterfinalists would be the top 8 teams based on results and points difference.
 
Vassar College Men 48 v 7 Central Connecticut State University Men
Tries: Evan Roberts (1), Rob Eder (1), George Sheppard (1), Louie Brown (1), Joseph Simon (2), Ankit Khosla (1), James Christensen (1).
Cons: Logan Ragsdale (4).
 
The Vassar men put on a clinic in terms of imposing their game and controlling the match against a spirited and athletic CCSU team. The Brewers caught the kickoff and went through multiple phases, predominantly in the forwards, before scoring the opening try and led 5-0. The Brewers racked up 8 tries with forwards collecting 5 and the backs 3. What was most encouraging was the commitment to the breakdown and the quality of ball presented to scrumhalf Norman Kuang.
 
Vassar Number 8 Rob Eder, given a solid platform in front of him, scored Vassar's second try and the half finished with Vassar leading 17-0 after skipper George Sheppard had collected his first, and Vassar's third try of the match.
 
One of the features of the game was the tackling of inside center Joseph Simon who repeatedly was up quickly denying Central Connecticut backs any space. Not only did he work hard defensively, he also scored two excellent tries as Vassar began to run away with this victory.
 
The icing on the cake was when the ball was pushed wide, Simon and Olkovsky running decoys, to James Christensen and he did an outstanding impersonation of Carlin Isles, sprinting down the left wing for a glorious try. This one moment of rugby stardom eclipsed any full volleyball game the youngster had previously played!
 
Team: 15 Jeff Montoya, 14 James Christensen, 13 Nick Olkovsky, 12 Joseph Simon, 11 Roydell Morris, 10 Nate Cuson, 9 Norman Kuang, 1 Mike Cardenas, 2 Louie Brown, 3 Dale Lord, 4 Logan Ragsdale, 5 George Sheppard, 6 Kaden Wood, 7 Evan Roberts, 8 Rob Eder. Subs: Jack Kenney for Jeff Montoya, Ali Sadek for Mike Cardenas, Levi Tuck for Louie Brown, Ankit Khosla for Dale Lord.
 
 
 
Vassar College Men 5 v 10 UMass-Dartmouth Men
Tries: Evan Roberts (1).
 
The University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth Men had outstanding pace on both wings and consistently swung the ball wide quickly, stretching the Vassar defense. The first score came when Vassar was slow to realign defensively and in fact, the entire first half Vassar was somewhat off the pace.
 
To their credit, the Brewers did scramble and managed to stay in touch on the score board. However, a well worked front peel at a lineout close to the Vassar line gave UMass-Dartmouth a 10-0 lead at the half.
 
In the second period, Vassar was able to hold the ball for longer periods and produced pressure which they did turn into points as Evan Roberts deservedly scored a lovely try darting over, causing three defenders to miss. However, there was not a great deal of time to get another try and the Vassar men would have to wait to see if they would advance as one of the best second place teams in the division.
 
At the conclusion of play on the second day, Vassar was seeded number 6 for the 8 team quarterfinal pairings. It was well deserved, for they had played a good deal of disciplined rugby.
 
Deserving of mention in particular is the front row trio of Mike Cardenas, Louie Brown, and Dale Lord. They provided a good platform and allowed the backrow  and the back division to launch attacks.
 
Team: 15 Jeff Montoya, 14 James Christensen, 13 Nick Olkovsky, 12 Joseph Simon, 11 Roydell Morris, 10 Nate Cuson, 9 Norman Kuang, 1 Mike Cardenas, 2 Louie Brown, 3 Dale Lord, 4 Logan Ragsdale, 5 George Sheppard, 6 Kaden Wood, 7 Evan Roberts, 8 Rob Eder. Subs: Chris Duncan for Norman Kuang.
 
Sunday, April 15, 2018
 
Quarterfinal
Vassar College Men 26 v 21 Wentworth Institute of Technology Men
Tries: Rob Eder (2), George Sheppard (1), Norman Kuang (1).
Cons: Logan Ragsdale (3).
 
The warm weather of Saturday was long gone and the teams took the field with strong winds, with temperatures in the low 30s! It was brutally cold. But, the Vassar men were keen to prove that they were worthy quarterfinalists, and that they did!
 
Wentworth tried to play an expansive game, swinging the ball down the backline time and time again. It was folly. The wind sometimes blew the ball off course, passes went astray, and cold hands knocked the ball on. Vassar was able to capitalize and, applying a much more pragmatic approach, minimized errors. There were some ferocious tackles, but Vassar handled the pressure and were much more disciplined at the breakdown. Number 8 Rob Eder scored two lovely tries from the base of the scrum and George Sheppard was at his poacher's best. Special mention is due to Logan Ragsdale for an addition to working hard in the engine room of the pack, he fulfilled the goal-kicking duties. He slotted three beautiful conversions in the tricky, windy conditions that in the end proved crucial to the victory.
 
At the half, it was 21-7 and WIT was forced to chase the game. This meant they kept trying to swing the ball out wide and it proved fruitless. In the last four minutes, they did score one try, however Vassar replied immediately to make it 26-14. With time expired, WIT did get a consolation score which somewhat flattered their efforts.
 
Ryan Chan and Josh Espada, in fact the entire team, put in some big hits and kept Vassar at the match at critical points.
 
Team: 15 Jeff Montoya, 14 James Christensen, 13 Nick Olkovsky, 12 Joseph Simon, 11 Roydell Morris, 10 Nate Cuson, 9 Norman Kuang, 1 Mike Cardenas, 2 Louie Brown, 3 Dale Lord, 4 Logan Ragsdale, 5 George Sheppard, 6 Chris Duncan, 7 Evan Roberts, 8 Rob Eder. Subs: Ali Sadek for Mike Cardenas, Ankit Khosla for Dale Lord, Ryan Chan for Jeff Montoya, Max Henderson for Roydell Morris, Levi Tuck for Louie Brown, Josh Espada for Nick Olkovsky.
 
Semifinal
Vassar College Men 7 v 51 University of Maine-Farmington Men
Tries: Rob Eder (1)
Cons: Logan Ragsdale (1)
 
The Vassar men somewhat limped into this semifinal with a number of players hurting and a few on the sidelines out of action. It was always going to be a lot asking to win five games with a squad of just 23 players. Nate Cuson, the Vassar flyhalf, was out of action and while Kaden Wood returned to the lineup, the entire pack had played almost every minute over the weekend.
 
The University of Maine-Farmington Men were defending champions and they employed a hard running offloading game that was quite proficient. They were able to break first-up tackles and that allowed them to get behind the defense where they used their outstanding speed to slice through the last line of the Vassar defense. After ten minutes, it was 22-0 and more a case of damage control than engineering a victory.
 
It was a good lesson in understanding the value of first-up tackles as well as trying to stop the offload.
 
The second half saw Vassar manage to get their fair share of possession and even though the Maine school probably took their foot off the gas, it was clear that Vassar had some shape to their attack and could play a bit.
 
The Vassar men finished the weekend with a record of 2-2 and a semi-final berth was no mean achievement. George Sheppard led the team well throughout the weekend and all the players can feel proud of their efforts.
 
Team: 15 Ryan Chan, 14 James Christensen, 13 Jeff Montoya, 12 Joseph Simon, 11 Roydell Morris, 10 Nick Olkovsky, 9 Norman Kuang, 1 Mike Cardenas, 2 Louie Brown, 3 Dale Lord, 4 Logan Ragsdale, 5 George Sheppard, 6 Kaden Wood, 7 Evan Roberts, 8 Rob Eder. Subs: Josh Espada for Joseph Simon, Chris Duncan for Kaden Wood, Ankit Khosla for Logan Ragsdale, Jack Kenney for Ankit Khosla.