Poughkeepsie, NY - The final weekend of Fall Break was a stunner in more than a few ways. First, the weather was summer-like and there was a big crowd on hand enjoying the sunshine. Second, the Vassar College Men's Rugby team was facing SUNY-Maritime College with a chance to earn the number 1 seed from the North Division going into postseason and last year this game was nip and tuck with Vassar squeaking through 17-15. There was plenty of excitement in the air. As matters transpired this game also bore witness to one of the best individual efforts defensively as Vassar's
TJ Usher excelled with his own stunning performance.
Vassar College Men 53 v 24 SUNY-Maritime College Men
Tries: Matheo Dwyer (3), TJ Usher (1), Jack Gibberd (3), Ben Remy (2).
Cons: (4).
The visitors took the field and in the warmup looked an imposing squad. There was size and pace in both their back division and the pack. One certainly felt that the task ahead was going to be a very tough 80 minutes of tackling and battling for possession.
But right from the outset Vassar sent a statement, kicking off, winning the first ruck convincingly and holding on to the ball with a good degree of consistency. The forwards were straight into the fray and although Maritime put in some big tackles it was clear that yards could be made. The priority was for the Brewers to keep the ball and minimize mistakes.
After co-captain Matheo Dwyer had put Vassar up 5-0 when he dived in from close range Maritime answered with a try following a turnover by the Brewers. At 7-5 to the Pirates it was Usher who struck next after the Vassar forwards had scrummaged well to steal a ball and flyhalf Ted Twit broke upfield getting good yards. The ball was swung to the backs and Usher sliced between two defenders, then beat the fullback and it was 10-7.
A further couple of penetrating runs from Usher put Vassar deep into the Maritime half and the forwards kept the pressure on driving for the line. Jack Gibberd picked and went over for a good score and it was 17-7.
This week there will not be a "Try of the Week" despite the fact that the Vassar team combined to score nine tries. Surely, one of these would merit recognition. But instead the Play of the Week will go to TJ Usher for his relentless chase and tackle on the Maritime player who from inside his own 22 and was dragged down just a meter short. Talk about a big heart, hustle, effort and determination! Usher exemplified all these qualities. Check out the video clip tomorrow!
Perhaps inspired by Usher's effort Vassar managed to keep Maritime from scoring although the visitors were in the Vassar 22 for quite some time. Then fortuitously a loose pass from Maritime was scooped up by Jack Gibberd just inside the Vassar 22 and he found himself sprinting down the middle of the field with no-one in front of him. The goal line must have seemed an eternity away for the hooker but he kept the pistons pumping and went in under the posts. Vassar led 24-7 at the halfway mark.
A good start to the second half saw Vassar march all the way down to the Maritime 5-meters line and wing Ken Kabeya dived over the line for what he thought was his first Vassar try. There was just one small problem, it was the 5-meters line! Maritime eventually managed to swing the ball wide and get some territory. Vassar then gave a couple of penalties away and after the ball went down to the right wing Maritime got back into the match with a 7-pointer and it was 24-14. A 10-point lead this early in the second half didn't seem very comfortable. Turnover ball was a problem for the Vassar defense when Maritime got it to the outside channels.
Vassar's riposte was immediate and Dwyer slipped around a ruck to score and settle the home fans' nerves as the score stood at 31-14. But the Pirates would not just lie down and they battled back with a score to make it 31-19.
The good news for Vassar was that the Brewers scrum was in the ascendancy pushing hard and making set piece ball messy and the Pirates were relying on individual breaks so as long as the Vassar tacklers stuck to their man the invaders could be repelled.
The other major factor was that the Pirates were struggling to get set up due to fatigue. Vassar had pushed the pace and it was beginning to tell. Dwyer added to his tally and then Ben Remy cut through the defense for a quality try and it was all over bar the shouting.
There were quite a few Vassar Rugby alums present and it was wonderful to see them again supporting the team. Jonah Shaw '95, Wolf Boehme '82, Hannah Bober '13, Julie Geller '24, Sophia Florida '23, Andrew Abshere '07 and of course the ever present Charlie Williams '80.
Vassar now has to prepare for the visit of Seton Hall University next Sunday and the knockout stages of the season. It's win or go home time and the opponent is another set of Pirates.
Team: 14 Zhongjia Hou 13 Ben Remy 12 TJ Usher 11 Ken Kabeya 10 Ted Twit 9 Matheo Dwyer 1 Luca Pereira Frears 2 Jack Gibberd 3 Caleb DiBartolo 4 Gene Waddy 5 Dimitrios Tzepos 6 Mariano Decarvalho 7 Finn Smith 8 Samia Jaman.
Subs: Max Czekaj for Gene Waddy, Ki'tsai Zangpo for Luca Pereira Frears, Sriram Soundarapandian for TJ Usher, Ezra Potts, Sahaj Sharma, Rajveer Singh, Zachery Imhoff, Will Taaffee & Nico Reyes Cardoza.
Unavailable: Anthony Koleser.
Injured: Kaiden Tocher, Mark Gislason, Owen McManus & Justin Lederer.
JYA: Kiran Mullen, Eli Schair-Rigoletti, Phil Knowlton, Gabe Slavin & Jojo Goldin.
Overall record: 8-0-0.
Conference record: 3-0-0.
Next: Sunday October 27, 2024 versus Seton Hall University at Vassar College Farm (the kickoff will either be at 1:00 pm or 3:00 pm - to be confirmed)
