POUGHKEEPSIE, NY - The Vassar Men made the short trip to cross town neighbors Marist College on this beautiful fall afternoon. Under blue sky and brilliant sunshine the Brewers first took on the B-side of the University at Albany and then the Marist College B-side. This trifecta of teams was a perfect early season hit out opportunity for the Brewers to develop their game.
Vassar College Men 19 v 0 University at Albany B-
XV
Tries: Bryce DiNardo (2), Jack Gibberd (1).
Cons: Kiran Mullen (2).
It must be stated up front that this was a novice team put on the field by the University at Albany. The number of penalties given away led to a pretty disjointed affair and the onus was on Vassar to bring structure and shape to the contest. When the Brewers stayed in shape they looked quite effective.
An early try and a second in quick succession unfortunately led to the Vassar players going off script and the action was at times frantic. But just like last week there were some good individual efforts. The halfback pairing of DiNardo and Skeet-Browning looks solid enough although the latter must be purposeful with every single pass. Throwing speculative long passes to a general area will lead to disaster.
In defense Vassar tackled the big lads from Albany reasonably well but the mantra of chop tackle and taking the legs must be consistent. Apart from charging runs from the Albany forwards there was little to test the Brewers.
T.J. Usher in the center was excellent with the ball in hand and he made good tackles. The key is to have the ball in his hands running the right lines and being put through the defensive gaps. It would be far more beneficial then than just shoveling the ball to him and hoping for a gap to be created.
The scrum was solid and pushed the inexperienced Albany players backwards and that made their attacks difficult to launch.
Team: 15 Kiran Mullen 14 Phil Knowlton 13 Matheo Dwyer 12 Martrel "TJ" Usher11 Ezra Potts 10 Olly Skeet-Browning 9 Bryce DiNardo 1 Benson Cao 2 Jack Gibberd 3 Justin Lederer 4 Joseph Goldin 5 Dimitrios Tzepos 6 Gabe Slavin 7 Zhongjia Hou 8 Kaiden Tocher. Subs: Luca Pereira Frears, Ki'tsai Zangpo, Samia Jaman, Will Smith, Sam Shurin, Leon Moore, Ben Remy.
Vassar College Men 12 v 5 Marist College B-XV
Tries: Penalty Try (1), Jack Gibberd (1).
Cons: Penalty Try (1).
Vassar faced a different challenge against hosts Marist College as the Red Foxes had an impressive scrum and definitely more experience than Albany had shown.
The large athletic Marist players ran with purpose and power and there were some valiant tackles made by the Brewers. In the opening stanza Marist was punching over the gain line and Vassar was on the back foot. A try gave Marist the lead but the conversion was unsuccessful and the Vassar players were able to catch their breath.
The Marist rookies gave away a couple of penalties and Olly Skeet-Browning stepped up for Vassar and launched some big kicks deep into the Marist half. A series of attacks were only stopped by penalties and after the fourth infringement the referee had no choice but to award a penalty try. Vassar led 7-5.
The change in momentum was there for all to see. The Vassar defense rushed up and managed to thwart some attacks as passes were dropped or hurried and fell to ground. Another penalty allowed field position to be established yet again and hooker
Jack Gibberd wriggled over to clinch the game 12-5.
This was undoubtedly a squad effort and it is so rewarding for all to see how the Brewers play when on script. There is still a ton of work to do but where there is a will there's a way.
Team: 15 Kiran Mullen 14 Phil Knowlton 13 Matheo Dwyer 12 Martrel "TJ" Usher11 Ezra Potts 10 Olly Skeet-Browning 9 Bryce DiNardo 1 Benson Cao 2 Jack Gibberd 3 Justin Lederer 4 Joseph Goldin 5 Dimitrios Tzepos 6 Gabe Slavin 7 Zhongjia Hou 8 Kaiden Tocher. Subs: Luca Pereira Frears, Ki'tsai Zangpo, Samia Jaman, Will Smith, Sam Shurin, Leon Moore, Ben Remy.
Next weekend: Sunday, September 24th, 2023 Vassar College Men v Seton Hall University Men at Vassar Farm KO 1:00 pm
