Bronx, NY - From the outset Vassar fell behind and although able to claw its way back into the match some familiar issues allowed Maritime College to finally seal the win. Individually there were plenty of positive contributions but players need to be on task for the full 80 minutes and this lesson was learnt the hard way down in the Bronx.

Vassar College Men  26 v 49 SUNY-Maritime College
Tries: Caleb DiBartolo (1), Luca Pereira Frears (1), Eli Schair-Rigoletti (1) & Kiran Mullen (1).
Cons: Mark Gislason (3).

The Vassar men traveled down to the Bronx and in the shadow of the Throgs Neck Bridge took to the field knowing full well a huge physical effort was going to be required. The Privateers are traditionally hard running and speedy and the turf field provided a fast track for both teams.

The home team ran off the fringes of the rucks but the Vassar defense held despite a couple of missed tackles and the Brewers also were able to make yards with their one out runners. 

When the ball clearly emerged from a ruck and the Maritime scrumhalf placed a hand on it Vassar's Number 8 Tocher was penalized for making a tackle. The Ruck Law, 15.18, states that "A player who is, or was part of the ruck may not play an opponent who is near it (within 1m), and who is attempting to play the ball away." It was harsh since Tocher had never been a part of the ruck but had set up behind the back foot onside and the ball was clearly a foot out. Maritime quickly tapped and ran, a missed tackle and a couple of phases later with some hard running from the tighthead and the ball was shifted to the backs where the flyhalf ran wide to score. 14 minutes into the game and Vassar was down 5-0.

Following the restart Vassar conceded penalties that gave Maritime great field position and although the Privateers were held up over the line after a penalty from 5 meters out, a rush of blood to the head of flyhalf Mark Gislason gifted the home team a try. Gislason decided to take the goal line drop out quickly but his kick didn't travel 5 yards nor was it to an area undefended! From the ensuing 5 meters scrum the Maritime Number 8 walked over to make it 10-0.
Vassar then had a short spell with the ball and worked their way to the halfway line before the ball was dislodged in a tackle in the center and after a good lineout drive and a couple of phases Maritime shifted the ball wide to make it 17-0. Vassar was on the wrong side of the refereeing decisions and down 17 points.

But the Brewers rallied and scored a couple of decent tries before the half time whistle. After a tap penalty Caleb DiBartolo went over and then Luca Pereira Frears added to the total and with both conversions from Gislason it was a 17-14 game. Pereira Frears scored with a well timed run after the forwards along with scrumhalf Eli Schair-Rigoletti had battered away at the Maritime goal line. The Maritime players had 2 players yellow carded for tackling a player after a penalty was awarded and tapped quickly. The Privateers also tended to drive into the rucks off their feet which led to chaotic breakdowns and Vassar had been penalized for coming round the sides! Maritime regrouped after those 2 tries and just at the half went over so the momentum swung back. After 40 minutes it was 22-14 and still anyone's game.

Vassar started well in the second half and really should've pulled it to a 1-point game. Caleb Joyce went through the centers and sprinted downfield. A Maritime defender gave chase and upon review of the video made what was clearly a high tackle as at least one arm went over the shoulder. A penalty try would have been well justified. But the ball spilled forward and from the resulting scrum Maritime wasted no time going blind and after 2 phases scoring when the Vassar defense was in tatters. Instead of 22-21 the score stood at 29-14.

Vassar's Eli Schair-Rigoletti put in a very good shift and constantly asked questions of the Maritime defense. His distribution was good and he ran all game long making tackles and launching the Vassar attacks. Deservedly, it was his try next that got Vassar back into the contest and at 29-19 and the 10-point margin seemed surmountable. A good lineout drive from Vassar saw Maritime give away a slew of penalties and from the quick tap the scrumhalf scored.

Buoyed by the try Vassar's defense stiffened and for a period both teams traded possessions and got no significant gains. Then with 13 minutes left in the game Vassar's fullback Kiran Mullen broke free down the left wing and went over in the corner. He had made quite a few try saving tackles earlier and this was another good contribution. Now it was 26-29 and one felt that Vassar could prevail. However, the huge effort to just get back within range had taken a toll. The hosts not only scored again but as Vassar chased the game, the Brewers fell prey to 3 more tries.  It was akin to the torture of Tantalus. Maritime emerged winners 49-26.

Team: 15 Kiran Mullen 14 Ken Kabeya 13 Marius Kruse 12 Ted Twit 11 McCarthy Barber 10 Mark Gislason 9 Eli Schair-Rigoletti 1 Ben Kaplan 2 Luca Pereira Frears 3 Caleb DiBartolo 4 Max Czekaj 5 Jojo Goldin 6 Miles Yum 7 Samia Jaman 8 Kaiden Tocher. Subs: Sawyer Bivins for Caleb DiBartolo, Anthony Kolesar, Caleb Joyce for Marius Kruse, Rheese Fine for Ken Kabeya, Anthony Kolesar for Caleb Joyce.

Record: 3-3-0

Next: Saturday October 11th, 2025 Vassar College Men versus USMMA, Kings Point Men KO 2:00 pm