New York, NY -  Last year the Columbia University Women defeated Vassar twice and won the Tri-State Conference title. But on this balmy fall evening under the lights in the Kraft Football stadium in the Big Apple, the Vassar team  scored 15 tries in what was something of a demolition.

Vassar College Women 93  v  0 Columbia University Women
Tries: Julia Wolff (1), Maddie Sumrow (2), Sophia Bailey (3), Jude Robinson (2), Leah Dourmashkin (1), Andie Authers (2), Yasmeen Kassem Scott (1), Ella Maniatis (2) & AC Smith (1).
Cons: Zoe Lynch (9).

This was a rough night for the home team but there were a number of factors that contributed to the lopsided scoreline. On one side of the equation Columbia graduated a lot of seniors last year, there is a new coaching team in place still getting to know the squad, some starters are currently injured and a few more were rested since this was a mid-week game. On the other side, the Vassar team was up for this game and very keen to make amends for the losses last year, the Brewers were focused, sharp and started with no errors.

Vassar's Eleanor Jacoby kicked off and counter rucked to gain possession. Scrumhalf Sophia Bailey darted through but fell over her own feet, one of her best tackles of the season! The forwards picked and ran around the fringes and it was Julia Wolff who scored with just a minute gone on the clock! It would not get any better for Columbia all night. Vassar had settled any nerves and within 10 minutes another 3 tries meant the team was brimming with confidence.

The Vassar forwards produced clean ball and the backs enjoyed a steady supply of possession. Columbia did get a few steals and attempted a couple of attacks but the Vassar defense was on the front foot and not severely challenged.

From a development point of view the Vassar back division was able to see areas to attack and then did a pretty good job of exploiting the space available. Maddie Sumrow looked dangerous and Jude Robinson was put away in the wide channels. The Columbia players struggled to make tackles and once Vassar was in behind it was a case of picking off the last defender.

On one of the few Columbia attacking sorties, on the edge of the Vassar 22, the ball was knocked on but fell right into the hands of Vassar's left wing Leah Dourmashkin who gleefully ran the 75 meters to score under the posts. It was Vassar's 6th try and by half time another 6 had been scored making the score 72-0. This was clearly not going to be Columbia's night.

Vassar had made 2 substitutions in that first half and another 3 at the start of the second. But the die had been cast and there was to be no respite for Columbia. Another 2 substitutions and 3 tries in the first 20 minutes left the deficit at 93. The Columbia team was out of players at this point and made the decision to stop playing. 

Vassar could reflect on some reasonably good game management decisions and of course individual runs like that of Yasmeen Kassem Scott, the aforementioned Sumrow and Robinson, as well as Sophia Bailey. Additionally, a number of  strong carries from Emma Niehaus deserve mention. Vassar's Zoe Lynch put the icing on the cake making 9 of 15 conversions and hit the post 4 times!

Columbia will no doubt rebound with players coming back and there is still plenty of rugby to play as all the teams earn their playoff seeding for the conference championship.

Team: 15 Jude Robinson 14 Zoe Lynch 13 Ella Maniatis 12 Maddie Sumrow 11 Leah Dourmashkin 10 Sabine Weil 9 Sophia Bailey 1 Andie Authers 2 Emma Niehaus 3 Eleanor Jacoby 4 Julia Wolff 5 Sam Tang 6 Tate Wagner 7 Mette McKiney 8 Yasmeen Kassem Scott.

Subs: Makaela Weldon for Maddie Sumrow, Maggie Nealis for Jude Robinson, AC Smith for Julia Wolff, Nina Fishman for Eleanor Jacoby, Nadya LaMarr for Sophia Bailey, Ina Zaslavsky for Emma Niehaus, Sarah Towne for Yasmeen Kassem Scott, Foster Schrader for Leah Dourmashkin.

Record: 6-0-0.
Conference: 4-0-0.

Next: Sunday October 13th, 2024 Vassar College Women at Fairfield  University, kick-off 12:00 noon (B-side KO 2:00 pm)