Union College No Match for Brewers

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - Union College traveled south on this first day of fall and took on the Vassar Men in what was the first game of the season for the visitors whereas Vassar had played and defeated Monroe College last weekend. Despite Vassar losing flyhalf Nate Cuson early in the contest, on account of a possible concussion, Union could not exploit the advantage. Vassar ran in 9 tries and slotted 7 conversions sending the Dutchmen home with nothing to show on the scoresheet.

Vassar College Men 59 v 0 Union College Men
Tries: Rob Eder (2), Dale Lord (1), Chris Duncan (1), Evan Roberts (3), & James Christensen (2).

Cons: Stephen Kpundeh (7).

It was a mixed bag for the Vassar Men on this mild and cloudy afternoon at the Farm. They did establish control of the match early on with some very disciplined play but there were moments of frustration as they missed opportunities to be even more dominant.

Vassar flyhalf Nate Cuson had to leave the field with a suspected concussion after only about 10 minutes of play so captain Stephen Kpundeh went in to the critical playmaker role. He dropped  or kept the first few passes sent his way and was on the verge of being replaced but he started to settle and Vassar found some shape to their game.

Ron Eder had a good day at the base of the scrum before he too was replaced and the Brewers dominated the set pieces so Evan Roberts at 9 was able to enjoy life. Eder scored twice and was strong in contact with his ball carrying. Meanwhile Roberts tended to step his way around defenders and he collected 3 tries.

The work of Mike Cardenas in the set scrums and in clearing out rucks was exceptional. He has taken to rugby like a fish to water and given the Vassar pack a solidity it sorely needed.

After 40 minutes Vassar led 31-0 and, to be frank, Union had only threatened the Vassar goal line twice. Even those "threats" were snuffed out or the ball was dropped by Union attackers. So further tries from Vassar fullback James Christensen sealed the win for Vassar. But as is pretty much always the case he was the beneficiary of some good ball produced by the forwards.

Four second half tries from Vassar and the fact that Union did not get into the opposition 22 spelled the shutout. There is still a ton of work to do wit this team and they will need to stay healthy and push themselves in practice.

Team: 15 James Christensen 14 Ryan Chan 13 Stephen Kpundeh 12 Jeff Montoya 11 Roy Ochieng 10 Nate Cuson 9 Evan Roberts 1 Mike Cardenas 2 Louie Brown 3 Dale Lord 4 Ali Sadek 5 Ankit Khosla 6 Kyle Trumble 7 Chris Duncan 8 Rob Eder. Subs: Casey Draskovich for Nate Cuson, Levi Tuck for Rob Eder.

Overall record: 2-0-0

Next weekend: Sunday September 30, 2018 TBA *
* N.B. The SUNY-New Paltz game is cancelled - possible replacement game TBA