Poughkeepsie, NY - The Brewers faced a motivated Seton Hall University team as a playoff spot was on the line. Lose and most likely the season was done. Under clear blue skies and with a slightly cool breeze it was Vassar that jumped ahead and dominated the early exchanges to the tune of 3 tries before things got really interesting.

Vassar College Men  41 v 24 Seton Hall University Men
Tries: Luca Pereira Frears (1), Sawyer Bivins (2), Max Czekaj (1) Eli Schair-Rigoletti (1), Kaiden Tocher (1) & TJ Usher (1).
Cons: Mark Gislason (3).

At one point in the second half Vassar was down to 13 men as 2 players were yellow carded for high tackles. Seton Hall was pressing hard to get back into the contest which stood at 29-17 and had the Pirates scored to close that gap this would've been a dog fight to the end. As it was, Vassar clung on and further tries from the Brewers sealed a home semifinal game next Sunday. The opponent is not known at the time of writing this report.

It was a better effort from Vassar this weekend in quite a few areas and while it was good to get the win there is still massive room for improvement. Up front the rookie Sawyer Bivins showed why he belongs on the field. He was solid in the set piece, made tackles and had some strong carries. In fact two of those carries were from close range and he scored. His front row colleague Luca Fereira Pears also scored and did yeoman's work at hooker. His tackling was very good. In the second row both Jojo Goldin and Max Czekaj hit rucks and carried with purpose and the Vassar scrum in the end ran over the Seton Hall 8 a number of times at set piece. Ben Kaplan has been like a rock at tighthead.

The Vassar backs had one of their better afternoons with not too many drops and at inside center Eli Schair-Rigoletti was consistently good at taking the ball at pace. TJ Usher is still getting used to playing at 9 but he is a threat at times and will grow into the role. Fullback Kiran Mullen made a number of try saving tackles only making one miss and on that occasion Usher tracked the runner down to prevent a try.

Vassar did look vulnerable when the team tackled poorly. Players putting their whole self in front of the ball carrier is non-negotiable and work must be done to ensure this is done consistently. It is one thing to be outflanked and have to chase across or back but quite another to be stepping aside to facilitate a side tackle! 

The last tries in this contest came from Kaiden Tocher and TJ Usher and they were on the back of the hard work done by the forwards securing possession.

Team: 15 Kiran Mullen 14 McCarthy Barber 13 Marius Kruse 12 Eli Schair-Rigoletti 11 Sam Hoover 10 Mark Gislason 9 TJ Usher 1 Sawyer Bivins 2 Luca Pereira Frears 3 Ben Kaplan 4 Max Czekaj 5 Jojo Goldin 6 Ken Kaybeya 7 Samia Jaman 8 Kaiden Tocher. Subs: Miles Yum for Ken Kaybeya.

Record: 5-4-0

Next: Sunday November 2, 2025 Tri-State Conference Semifinal Playoff
Vassar College Men versus TBA at Vassar Farm KO 2:00 pm