POUGHKEEPSIE, NY - It was Easter Sunday and the Farm looked beautiful under the sunny sky and conditions were absolutely perfect for playing rugby. The University of Massachusetts (UMass) Women's Rugby team had planned to play a lot of rookies in the second half of this match but as it turned out the majority of their starting lineup did not travel, so it was a very raw and inexperienced team that took the field for the full 80 minutes.

The Vassar lineup was predominantly less experienced players but there was another factor at play here. Vassar practices for 15s in the spring while most other programs work on 7s. So it's fair to assume that Vassar had a significant edge in terms of playing 15s and so it proved.

Vassar College Women 58 v 0 University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Tries: Andie Authers (1), Jude Robinson (1), Danny White (2), Kiki Takata (1), Emma Niehaus (1), Maddie Sumrow (1), Leah Dourmashkin (1), Lola Yost (2).
Cons: Zoe Lynch (2), Julia Wolff (1), Sabine Weil (1).

In the forwards, Vassar did not start co-captain and loosehead prop Julie Geller, hooker Katie Canavan, co-captain and lock Grace Skakel, lock Annie Adams, flanker Asia Baker nor Number 8 Lauren Showalter. In the backs junior Zoe Lynch moved from flyhalf to scrumhalf, freshman Sabine Weil was at flyhalf and not at outside center. Freshman Eleanor Jacoby played inside center in the fall but started at tighthead today for the first time. Only sophomore Jude Robinson at fullback and freshman Leah Dourmashkin on the wing played their usual positions at the beginning of this game.

The start was somewhat comical. UMass kicked off and Vassar freshman Emma Niehaus, playing flanker in just her third game of rugby, caught the ball right at her toes and fell forward. She opted to just lie there and place the ball despite the fact that there were no defenders within 5 yards of her. A number of Vassar players duly stepped over her and the ball was moved away from the quasi ruck! Vassar maintained possession for 15 phases and 2 penalties until a try was scored when Andie Authers bullied her way over from close range. UMass had not touched the ball.

That passage of play lasted about 4 minutes and Vassar had used the forwards running around the corner with Tate Wagner impressing, and when the backs had the ball Maddie Sumrow made a couple of good line breaks.

From the restart Wagner caught the ball and the forwards picked, first with Julia Wolff, then with Becca Middlen making a big gain, before Emma Niehaus bursting free and was running into the opposition 22 with just the fullback to beat. Niehaus was brought down and the ball and the ball lost at that ruck. UMass chose to kick the ball in an effort to clear their line but it went nowhere and was gathered by Zoe Lynch and from the ensuing ruck just 10 meters out Jude Robinson picked and smuggled herself through to score. Vassar led 12-0.

It was not looking good for the visitors as they could not get their hands on the ball and it didn't get any better! From the restart Vassar went through 14 phases and then Danny White sprinted through and 12 became 19 after Zoe Lynch's conversion.

Another restart and Vassar finally made an error after a couple of rucks with Niehaus knocking the ball on. Over 10 minutes of play and UMass finally had a scrum with it being their put in. The Minutemen won the ball and passed it to their back division moving it from 9 to 10, missing out 12 and hitting 13 who passed it to 15 coming into the line when a tackle was made by Danny White. UMass had made 3 passes, got the ball wide but lost almost 15 yards. Three phases later the ball was on the other side of the field and 20 meters had been lost but fortunately for the visitors a high tackle by Vassar's Leah Dourmashkin gave them a penalty kick.

From the ensuing lineout UMass moved the ball but again lost ground and then turned the ball over. Vassar rookie Kiki Takata went over for a try after a number of phases and it was clear that this was a game to work on set piece plays and team shape.

Full credit has to be given to the UMass novices as they kept tackling and putting their bodies on the line. A number of Vassar players took some big thumps. Center Maggie Nealis and a UMass defender caused the ground to shake with one such collision. Nealis got up but she will be feeling that tomorrow for sure!

Vassar range the changes and took off Jude Robinson, Zoe Lynch, Andie Authers which allowed for Leah Dourmashkin to get a long spell at 9, while Danny White went to fullback and Maritza Flores went on at prop for her first ever rugby game. Flores did incredibly well showing a good turn of pace, bravery in the tackle and great body position in the scrum. A spring season diamond to be sure.

Emma Niehaus scored next with a good dive going low and then Maddie Sumrow scored a scorcher as she made a line break and showed a little change of pace. The half finished with Leah Dourmashkin getting a try and Vassar led 41-0.

The second half Vassar tried to spread the ball from touchline to touchline in an effort to outflank the UMass defense. This was a real challenge for this mostly rookie outfit but they gave it a shot. Further tries from Lola Yost (2) and Danny White rounded out the game and hopefully this will serve as a lesson in continuity.

UMass will be at the Beast of the East and no doubt they will have their full starting lineup. Vassar must realize that it will be a markedly different challenge should the teams meet up.

Squad: 15 Jude Robinson 14 Danny White 13 Maggie Nealis 12 Maddie Sumrow 11 Leah Dourmashkin 10 Sabine Weil 9 Zoe Lynch 1 Eleanor Jacoby 2 Becca Middlen 3 Andie Authers  4 Kiki Takata 5 Julia Wolff 6 Emma Niehaus 7 Mette McKinney 8 Tate Wagner.
Subs: Ella Maniatis for Jude Robinson, Lola Yost for Becca Middlen, Maritza Flores for Andie Authers, Julie Geller for Eleanor Jacoby, Lydia Hong for Danny White, Sam Tang for Kiki Takata, Lauren Showalter for Mette McKinney, Grace Skakel for Julia Wolff.

Injured: Nadya LaMarr, Zoey Ojalvo, Ina Zaslavsky, Freya Braiker, Kaitlyn Sostre, AC Smith, Sophia Bailey, Yael Tuckman.

Unavailable: Yasmeen Kassem-Scott, Foster Schrader, Leila Stark, Asia Baker, Sophie Camplejohn, Jaleea Mederios, Nina Fishman (JYA),

2023-24 Overall record: 13-4-0

Next: Sunday April 7, 2024 at Stony Brook University for the Tri-State Conference 7s Championship. Games start at 10:00 a.m.

Vassar Women play at 10:40 am, 11:40 am, 1:40 pm & 2:40 pm.

The semi-finals are at 3:40 pm
The Final is at 4:40 pm