POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. -  The Vassar College Men's Rugby team took the pitch for the first time on Sunday afternoon and fell to local foe Maritime 32-5 at the Farm. Senior Hector Contreras (Jurupa Valley, CA) converted the lone try for the Brewers as Vassar battled strong in the first contest of the season.

Maritime had a few big breakaway runs that the Vassar defense scrambled to stop and in stark contrast the Brewers methodically picked and maneuvered their way upfield. The scrum was solid and although the visitors put in crunching tackles it was Vassar that had the majority of possession and territory.

Both the first half tries were the result of turnover ball and some good open field running by the Maritime College backs. Vassar replied with a score of its own from Contreras as the match was very tight in the first half of play.

Vassar fullback Carl Aller (Bloomfield, CT), rookie wing Kiran Mullen and rookie center Eli Schair-Rigoletti (Portland, ME) made outstanding tackles in the open field to thwart Maritime attacks. Bryce DiNardo (Underhill, VT) put together a strong contest for the Brewers as he made multiple line breaks, half breaks and tackled like a man on a mission. His passing was strong and he epitomized the team's spirit and performance.

After 60 minutes of this game, Vassar was parked in the Maritime 22 and the Brewers seemed to have a try imminent. A series of picks were repelled and some staunch Maritime defense held out against the Vassar barrage.  Then a huge momentum swing took place as Maritime cleared their line and scored on a breakaway to make it a 17-5 game.

The Maritime right wing, a well balanced, extremely fast and dynamic athlete scored a brace of tries to move the Privateers into the lead for good following the breakaway try just shortly after the 60 minute mark.

Team: 15 Carl Aller 14 Ezra Potts 13 Eli Schair-Rigoletti 12 Rowan Roshong 11 Kiran Mullen 10 Adam Vazquez 9 Bryce DiNardo 1 Benson Cao 2 Tyler Eberts 3 Justin Lederer 4 Alex Papasavas 5 Dimitrios Tzepos 6 Jack Gibberd 7 Kaiden Tocher 8 Hector Contreras.
Subs: Matthew Trueblood for Hector Contreras, Olly Skeet Browning for Carl Aller, Leon Moore for Jack Gibberd, Caleb DiBartolo for Dimitrios Tzepos.