Poughkeepsie, NY -  One might have been forgiven thinking that this was a sunny September day such was the weather. Under a blue sky with bright sunshine and balmy temperatures the Vassar Women ran away with the Tri-State Conference title. The total points scored and margin of victory was something of a surprise but it turns out that the visitors had sustained a number of injuries last weekend and their squad was quite depleted.

Vassar College Women 88 v 5 Fairfield University Women
Tries: Rosie Perkinson (3), Sophia Bailey (2), Nadya LaMarr (2), Maisy Richardson (1), Leah Dourmashkin (1),  Jude Robinson (1), Yasmeen Kassem-Scott (3) & Emma Niehaus (1).
Cons: Emma Niehaus (8) & Nadya LaMarr (1).

The battles between Vassar and Fairfield have traditionally been pretty heated affairs. Three years ago in the Fall of 2022 Vassar fell to Fairfield 41-19 and although the Brewers have won consistently since then, there have been some hard fought games. Last weekend Fairfield defeated Marist University in the Conference semifinal but it was a costly affair as 3 starters were out in the final. So the Stags were not at full strength for this Conference Championship game. Vassar too was without starters Ella Maniatis, Sarah Towne and Jude Robinson. The latter of these three did come on in the second half but the other two hope to return to action next week.

The conditions were ideal for handling and Fairfield, who received the kickoff, went through a number of phases before Vassar was able to get a turnover following a wayward pass. A few inroads were made by the Vassar forwards and then on their first possession the Vassar backs sliced through the Fairfield defense in the form of fullback Rosie Perkinson and it was 7-0 with 3 minutes on the clock.

Perkinson is a dangerous runner able to weave her way past defenders and a further 2 tries would come the fullback's way in the afternoon. Later in the match her versatility was on display as she shifted to the center when Jude Robinson came into the match at 15.

The next 20 minutes or so the Vassar forwards were relentless marching the ball upfield and 2 quick fire tries from scrumhalf Sophia Bailey saw the Brewers up 17-0. Fairfield was struggling to keep pace and was being starved of possession. It didn't help matters that when the visitors kicked it not only gave the ball back to Vassar but it was returned with considerable interest.

When Perkinson cut upfield for her second try and that was followed by some multiphase play with Nadya LaMarr getting around the defense it was clear that the game was well in hand at 31-0. One of the key factors was the close support by the Vassar players of the ball carrier for it ensured that the ball was recycled. There were 3 or 4 instances when the ball was lost at the breakdown but otherwise it was generally well sourced. The difficulty encountered was that Fairfield was able to slow the ball down so this will be an area that Vassar addresses moving forward.

Further tries in the first half from Maisy Richardson and Leah Dourmashkin put a seal on the game in terms of a win or loss and after 40 minutes Vassar led 45-0.

 It was very encouraging that the team was able to assert different patterns of play and  although there were some errors, hard work over the next few sessions should mean more improvement.

Yasmeen Kassem-Scott put in a good shift at Number 8 and the Vassar forward always tends to inject real pace into the attack. But there were not many scrums in the game so less opportunities to launch attacks. In fact, the first Vassar put-in to a scrum came in the 59th minute of the game which is probably a school record - no Vassar scrums in the first half!

In the centers Matty Sumrow looked very competent and threatening while Weldo was her usual joyous tackling self! Vassar's hooker, Emma Niehaus had a good day with a try and 8 conversions for a tally of 21 points but just as impressive was her general work rate.

The National Fall Championship is now the next step and Vassar will advance as the Tri-State #1 team. It is most likely that the squad will travel to Georgetown, DE next Friday and compete on Saturday in the Round of 16 and hopefully the Quarterfinals on Sunday. However, it could be that Vassar would go to the Irish Cultural Center in Canton, MA just south of Boston. Confirmation of the venue and opponents will be on Monday November 10th, 2025.

The NCR Fall Championship details can be accessed at ncr.rugby
https://www.ncr.rugby/nationals/2025-womens-championship-division-ii

Team: 15 Rosie Perkinson 14 Nadya LaMarr 13 Matty Sumrow 12 Makaela Weldon 11 Leah Dourmashkin 10 Sabine Weil 9 Sophia Bailey 1 Julia Wolff 2 Emma Niehaus 3 Maisy Richardson 4 Tate Wagner 5 Cae Bardsley Cutler 6 Mette McKinney 7 Lydia Hong 8 Yasmeen Kassem-Scott. Subs: Jude Robinson for Tate Wagner, Rahmat Gambari for Sophia Bailey, Gus Pointer Mace for Julia Wolff.
Squad: Annika Szturma, Gabby Gitau, Ellie Carr, Sadye Krell, Chloe Ellis, Ava Rowland, Dea Edwards, Ina Zaslavsky, Sylvie Lipskar, O Arteaga-Johnson, Meg Carpenter, Sydney Oren, Dora Chen, Emi Mitchell, Kiki Takata.
Injured: Ella Maniatis, Maggie Nealis, Sarah Towne, Jo Ellis, Zoey Ojalvo, Chloe Bilger, Grace Rich & AC Smith.

2025-26 Record: 9-0-0.

Next: Saturday & Sunday November 15 & 16, 2025 

National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) 
Fall XVs Championship
Regional Round (4 Regions: West, MidWest, South, East)