Poughkeepsie, NY - Maybe the word on the street is that perhaps Vassar is a one man band this Fall given the attention lavished on TJ Usher in this game. But that is simply not the case for the prolific center did not score today as Vassar went over the goal line scoring nine tries while conceding two to the visiting Seton Hall University team.

Vassar College Men 59 v 10 Seton Hall University Men
Tries: Matheo Dwyer (1), Penalty Try (1), Jack Gibberd (1), Mariano Decarvalho (2), Ezra Potts (1), Ben Remy (1), Luca Frears (1) & Samia Jaman (1). 
Cons: Ben Remy (6), Pen Try (1).

A hectic first 10 minutes with far too many penalties given away by the Brewers led to good field position for Seton Hall and there was quite the celebration when the Pirates scored first. But what followed over the next hour was a degree of shape and in the end execution from the home team that was very telling. 

The commitment from the players to making tackles and working hard is beginning to show dividends. On the other side of the coin the backs managed to distribute the workload and for a change the team's top try scorer, Usher, was held by the visitors to no tries but there was a price to pay as others were put into space.

Early on the Brewers lost Finn Smith and Luca Pereira Frears was forced into action. The Vassar scrum was in rampant mood and they had the Hall on skates at times.

Matheo Dwyer was quick to punish the slew of penalties given away by Seton Hall players and many will have nightmares as he darted past them and although he only had one try for all his sorties he was like a plague of locusts. Dwyer made it 7-5 and then referee Tim Downey had no choice but to award a penalty try as Vassar battered the Seton Hall goal line and it was 14-5 to the home team.

Co-captain Jack Gibberd plunged over to make it 21-5 and that was how the half ended with the visitors a tad shell shocked at the tempo of the game. Vassar had made a few strange tactical decisions kicking for touch when a scrum might have been a better option and then running a set penalty play when perhaps a kick to touch was likely more beneficial but all in all it was a decent first 40 minutes.

The second half did not start well and it was the Hall who scored a simple try as Vassar was probably guilty of thinking their job was done. 21-10 demanded an immediate reply and it was flanker Mariano Decarvalho who scored 2 tries to put Vassar back on track. One was a wonderfully executed lineout and he ran in untouched and with the score now at 31-10 Vassar was back in control. Seton Hall kept committing penalties and it led to a yellow card, so down to 14 players as well behind by 21 points, it was always going to be an uphill battle.

Vassar's sixth try was a beauty as senior Ezra Potts ran a good line and bemused the defense to score. It was massively deserved. Likewise Luca Pereira Frears scored and he too is a tireless worker and selfless player.

Fullback Ben Remy had a quality afternoon and he was next to celebrate with a try. The Seton Hall scouting report probably didn't have his name, nor Potts and Pereira Frears and it was too late to make adjustments as Vassar led 52-10.

Try number 9 came from Sami Jaman and he just took off before getting clobbered as he went over but scored and then grinned his best modeling smile with just the satisfaction of a 59-10 win.

Next Sunday the team will face Hofstra University in the conference semifinal at Vassar. There is no time to celebrate this victory as Hofstra is itching to avenge last year's loss in the conference championship game. If that doesn't get the Brewers attention then nothing will.

Team: 15 Ben Remy 14 Nigel Trenh 13 Ben Remy 12 TJ Usher 11 Ken Kabeya 10 Ted Twit 9 Matheo Dwyer 1 Finn Smith 2 Jack Gibberd 3 Dimitrios Tzepos 4 Gene Waddy 5 Max Czekaj 6 Mariano Decarvalho 7 Zongjia Hou 8 Samia Jaman.
Subs: Luca Pereira Frears for Finn Smith, Sriram Soundarapandian for Ken Kabeya, Sahaj Sharma, Rajveer Singh, Zachery Imhoff, Will Taaffee, Nico Reyes Cardoza & 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: 9-0-0.
Conference record: 4-0-0.

Next: Sunday November 3, 2024 versus Hofstra University at Vassar College Farm, KO 3:00 pm (to be confirmed.)