Tries: James Christensen (1) & Norman Kuang (1).
Cons: Nate Cuson (1). 

As has been the case in most games this year the opening stanza from the Brewers has been very solid. The team moved up the field after taking the kick-off, pressured MSU into a turnover and then put a number of phases together that eventually resulted in a try. Vassar led 7-0 after James Christensen sprinted in from his fullback position and Nate Cuson connected on the conversion.

The restart was not 10 so Vassar launched an attack from the scrum and was again on the front foot. The set piece scrum did well all game so credit to Ali Sadek, James Scarabino and Mike Cardenas in the front row for working hard all game.

Montclair elected to kick early but James Christensen fielded these easily and ran the ball back effectively. Where Vassar started to have problems was at the breakdown. Too often the Montclair State players were able to drive off the Vassar support players and it resulted in turnovers. Good field position was surrendered  and then MSU were off and running. Another feature of the game was the hard-nosed running of the Jersey school players. Vassar tacklers were knocked aside or fell off too many tackles and that allowed big gains for the home team.

Montclair State tied the game up at 7-7 after a series of goal line attacks that Vassar did well to repel. But another glaring weakness was the blindside defense of the Vassar players at rucks. On a number of occasions there was simply not a single defender on the narrow side of the field at a ruck! The Vassar wings were missing in action and other players either went into the ruck or were on the openside. Montclair made gains as their nimble footed scrumhalf and others found this space.

It did not help matters that the officiating at the breakdown left all players bemused as to the laws and Vassar started to bicker and appeal for decisions rather than get on with the job of winning the ball. Instead of asking that a player be penalized they would have been better served driving said player back or rucking over the ball. 

Montclair took the lead after Vassar was turned over at a ruck and a series of two passes followed by 3 missed tackles let the home team gain momentum. The irony was that Vassar had the lion's share of possession and territory yet now found themselves down 14-7. Vassar was clearly flustered and frustrated as the next 10 minutes unfolded. A third try was conceded and the half finished at 19-7 in Montclair's favor.

The wheels came off the wagon in the second half and Vassar never really got into the contest as the hard running Montclair players just bulldozed and bullied their way through tackles. The second 40 started horribly as the deep kick-off was not caught and rolled in-goal where it was downed. The 5-meter scrum to MSU gave them field position and despite Vassar holding out for some time eventually a turnover led to another try. At 26-7 the 3 score 19 point deficit seemed a mountain to climb. It didn't get any better for the Brewers as they continued to either fall off tackles or concede penalties and MSU kept running hard at the Vassar defense. Four more tries gave MSU an emphatic 52-12 victory with a lone Vassar score coming from Norman Kuang.