BRONX, N.Y. - The Vassar Men's Rugby team traveled to the Bronx and was met with a chilly breeze off the East River as they took the field against the Privateers of SUNY-Maritime College. It is Fall Break, and only 17 players made the trip, and the team was somewhat reworked on account of injuries. But the hosts were in an uncompromising mood, and it was a frustrating and torrid afternoon as the team failed to score, and the home team ran in a host of tries.

Vassar College Men 0 v 46 SUNY-Maritime College Men

Despite the score, the game was closer than what appeared. 

The Vassar set-piece functioned well with the Brewers shunting back their much bigger opponents. It caused the quality of the ball to be poor, but Maritime managed to keep possession and, in winning the subsequent collisions, got back on the front foot. The lineouts, too, went well enough, but the Vassar drive was halted again and paid no dividends.

Zack Neri ran well from the base of the scrum and showed a lot of promise for a novice player. He was filling in for the injured Hector Contreras. The backs also had some ball and managed to get over the gain line, but Vassar struggled to maintain continuity as the defenders won the battle at the ruck. The Privateers stole the ball at the tackle or ripped it out, and on at least three occasions, Vassar was within a yard of scoring. 

Vassar conceded four tries in the first half, but mostly it was a well-fought contest but for the missed tackle or poor defense at a quick tap penalty.

A final score of 46-0 was not pretty, but the team finished the game playing a man down and still trying their hardest to fashion a score.

Team: 15 Carl Aller 14 Adam Vazquez 13 Merrick Rubinstein 12 Rowan Roshong 11 jack Gibberd 10 Olly Skeet Browning 9 Liam Manion 1 James Scarabino 2 Tyler Harber 3 Ali Sadek 4 Kaleb Brabham 5 Alex Pappas 6 Leon Moore 7 Casey Draskovich 8 Zach Neri. Subs: James Reece for Zach Neri, Dimitrios Tzepos for Carl Aller.

Overall record: 3-2

Next: Sunday, October 24, 2021 

Vassar College Men versus Montclair State University Men KO 2:00 pm