Men's Rugby Outlasts Wesleyan for Third Straight Victory

Poughkeepsie, NY - Make no mistake this was a hot late summer's day and all the players were nervous about how they would hold up in the heat. A lot of the coaching focus initially is on getting the rugby side of the equation up to speed quickly and fitness takes a back seat. As things turned out Vassar battled very hard in the first 40 minutes and although the team lost some shape in the second half there was enough in the tank to get over the line.

Vassar College Men 24 v 17 Wesleyan University
Tries: Matheo Dwyer (1), Dimitrios Tzepos (1), TJ Usher (1) & Ted Twit (1).
Cons: Benjamin Remy (2).

This was a tense game from start to finish and the Brewers started well being committed to their defensive chores. Even though a couple of tackles were missed in the opening attacks Wesleyan were held.

In fact Vassar enjoyed a big territorial advantage but did not convert in the 22 on account of giving away penalties. The visitors were able to clear their lines and stay in the contest. The Vassar scrum looked a little shaky and it will need to improve considerably but there were very promising signs with the lineout being a reliable source of possession.

This was a much changed lineup in that first year student Ted Twit went into the playmaker position on account of an injury to Mark Gialason. That vacated the fullback position and Ben Remy slotted in there. Both did very well considering it was their first outing in the spine of the team. In fact, freshman Twit scored the fourth and final try to seal a hard fought win and Remy made a number of last ditch tackles that prevented tries.

In attack the Vassar backs went off script and TJ Usher will have learnt a lot from this game. Last weekend the darting number 12 was able to score by going around the defense but that had been against less experienced players. Wesleyan was able to slide across and snuff out the Vassar center. Running lines are critical and once in behind a defense there is some latitude available.

Even with this problem Vassar did manage to show decent shape in the first half and although frustrated by the penalties the Brewers stayed in the contest after twice falling behind.

Wesleyan took the lead much against the run of play before Vassar's Matheo Dwyer nipped around a ruck and showed good pace to tie the game at 5-5. He probably should have run around under the posts to allow for an easy conversion but fortunately in the final accounting it didn't matter.

Wesleyan fired right back and it was 12-5 before prop Dimitrios Tzepos scampered through the ruck defense to make it 12-12. It was a physical and fast first 40 minutes but Vassar now had the opportunity to take control.

Unfortunately, after a quick score the Brewers seemed to lift their foot off the gas pedal. A simple set play saw Twit put Usher through and it was 19-12. Another immediate line break by Tzepos probably gave the home team the impression this could become a runaway win. But Wesleyan had other ideas and they just kept coming. In addition, Vassar had too many players looking to carry the ball before it had been won cleanly. While the effort is to be commended the decision making left a bit to be desired.

19-12 became 19-17 after Vassar had opted to take a quick tap penalty rather than kick deep into the Wesleyan 22. A knock-on gave the ball back to Wesleyan and from that scrum in their own half the attack resulted in a try!

Kudos to all the Brewers for battling and tackling but in particular Ben Remy, Ken Kabeya, Zhongjia Hou, Kaiden Tocher and TJ Usher for making some impressive tackles.

The Brewers kept trying and while it was an ugly and scrappy second half the home team had the last word as the freshman went over right by the posts.

Team: 15 Ben Remy 13 Ezra Potts 12 TJ Usher 11 Ken Kaybeya 10 Ted Twit 9 Matheo Dwyer 1 Luca Pereira Frears 2 Jack Gibberd 3 Dimitrios Tzepos 4 Gene Waddy 5 Samia Jaman 6 Owen McManus 7 Mariano Decarvalho 8 Kaiden Tocher.
Subs: Max Czekaj for Mariano Decarvalho, Rajveer Singh for Dimitrios Tzepos & Zhongjia Hou for Ken Kabeya.
Unavailable: Caleb DiBartolo, Ki'tsai Zangpo, Zachary Imhoff, Nico Reyes Cardoza, Sahaj Sharma, Sriram Soundarapandian, William Taaffee & Anthony Koleser.

Injured: Finn Smith, Justin Lederer & Mark Gislason.

Record: 3-0-0

Next: Sunday September 22, 2024 at Bard College with Union College KO 2:00 pm

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Players Mentioned

Ki'tsai Zangpo: Junior

Mariano Decarvalho: Senior

Matheo Dwyer: Senior

Jack Gibberd: 5' 9"; Senior

Justin Lederer: Senior

Owen McManus: Sophomore

Ezra Potts: Senior

Ben Remy: Senior

Dimitrios Tzepos: 6' 0"; Senior

Rajveer Singh: First Year

Players Mentioned

Ki'tsai Zangpo
: Junior

Mariano Decarvalho
: Senior

Matheo Dwyer
: Senior

Jack Gibberd
: 5' 9"; Senior

Justin Lederer
: Senior

Owen McManus
: Sophomore

Ezra Potts
: Senior

Ben Remy
: Senior

Dimitrios Tzepos
: 6' 0"; Senior

Rajveer Singh
: First Year

Vassar College Athletics

Players Mentioned

Players Mentioned