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MRUG 2024-25 Huddle
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Men's Rugby Tony Brown, Head Men's and Women's Rugby Coach

Men's Rugby Battles at John Donovan Memorial 7s Tournament

Williamstown, MA - The last minute withdrawal of Wesleyan University Men from the tournament caused a reshuffle of the game schedule and indeed the tournament format. Vassar traveled with a squad intent on battling in both the A-side and the B-side division. However, in the revised format the Vassar B-side competed against A-sides and it was something of a disappointment, although it would have the final say against Williams College B.
Vassar College Men A 31 v 0 Rutland Rugby Club
Cons: Mark Gislason (2) & Kaiden Tocher (1).

Against a physically strong men's club team the Brewers moved the ball well to the edges and TJ Usher used his pace to score a brace. When Rutland did threaten near the Vassar goal line Dimitrios Tzepos and Ben Remy stood firm and extinguished the likely score. It was a good start to the day for Vassar and given the small squad it was a much needed win.
Vassar College Men A 33 v 5 Middlebury College Men B
Tries: Ben Remy (1), Matheo Dwyer (1), TJ Usher (2), Dimitrios Tzepos (1).
Cons: Mark Gislason (2) & Kaiden Tocher (2).

Vassar forward Dimitrios Tzepos continued his solid form from the first game and made a good line break which led to an offload to TJ Usher for Vassar's third try. Earlier Ben Remy had opened the Vassar account with a weaving run and captain Matheo Dwyer scored try number 2 when he stepped a defender to put Vassar up 12-0. Midlebury did move the ball from touchline to touchline but was held at bay. Rookie Malcolm Oth, on as a substitute, showed good pace to get around the outside and that led to a score for Tzepos as Vassar comprehensively defeated the second string Middlebury lineup.
Semifinal
Vassar College Men A 7 v 14 Williams College Men A
Tries: TJ Usher (1).
Cons: Mark Gislason (1).

Vassar didn't find any real cohesion in this game which was something of a surprise given that usually the team grows into a tournament. It seemed that it was more individual effort and against the pressing Williams defense Vassar was not effective in attack. Even so the team came back from 14-0 down to have a chance to tie it up and force overtime. Credit is due Williams for pressing hard and forcing errors. For the third week in a row Vassar had bowed out in a semifinal.
Vassar College Men B 0 v 36 Williams College Men A
Vassar started well keeping possession but up against the starters for Williams, a team that has an athletic back division, it was not enough to keep the ball as Vassar would need to score. It didn't help matters that Max Czekaj was yellow carded leaving Vassar with one less player for 2 minutes.
Vassar College Men B 0 v 51 Middlebury College Men A
Vassar's Malcolm Oth and Mariano Dacarvalho  put in some excellent tackles and the B-side did their utmost as was the case in their earlier game. But pace and experience in 7s will prevail and that Middlebury had in abundance.
Vassar College Men B 19 v 7 Williams College Men B
Tries: Malcolm Oth (2) & Max Czekaj (1).
Cons: Mariano Decarvalho (2).

Finally, the Vassar B-side faced a B-side! Malcolm Oth showed everyone a clean pair of heels when he picked at a ruck and went the distance. At the half Vassar led this close battle 5-0. Oth scored his second to put Vassar further ahead when he shot through a gap in the Williams defense. Decarvalho kicked the conversion and a 12-0 lead looked pretty good with 3 minutes left in the match. Matters improved even more when Max Czekaj took a pass from Phil Knowlton after Decarvalho had won a ruck. The nimble forward took off, fended off a defender and scored, giving Vassar a 17-0 lead and 19-0 with Decarvalho successful conversion. There were smiles all around even though Williams collected a consolation try and it finished 19-7 to the Brewers.
Kudos to the all the Vassar squad for putting their best foot forward and competing. Each weekend there have been lessons learned and every minute on the field is valuable game time. Even though it is not 15s it will reap dividends in the fall.
Squad
B-side: 1 Max Czekaj 2 Mo Decarvalho 3 Gene Waddy 9 Phil Knowlton 10 Owen McManus 12 Malcolm Oth 14 Ken Kabeya.
Subs: Sriram Soundarapandian, Nico Reyes Cardoza & Ben Kaplan. 

Overall record 2024-25
15s: 9-1-0
7s: A-side 10-3-1; B-6-side 1-5-0

Next: Sunday April 27, 2025 Vassar College Men at the SUNY-New Paltz Invitational 7s, kick-off TBA.
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Players Mentioned

Mariano Decarvalho

Mariano Decarvalho

Senior
Matheo Dwyer

Matheo Dwyer

Senior
Owen McManus

Owen McManus

Sophomore
Ben Remy

Ben Remy

Senior
Kaiden Tocher

Kaiden Tocher

Junior
Dimitrios Tzepos

Dimitrios Tzepos

6' 0"
Senior
TJ Usher

TJ Usher

Sophomore
Mark Gislason

Mark Gislason

Junior
Ken Kabeya

Ken Kabeya

Sophomore
Ted Twit

Ted Twit

First Year

Players Mentioned

Mariano Decarvalho

Mariano Decarvalho

Senior
Matheo Dwyer

Matheo Dwyer

Senior
Owen McManus

Owen McManus

Sophomore
Ben Remy

Ben Remy

Senior
Kaiden Tocher

Kaiden Tocher

Junior
Dimitrios Tzepos

Dimitrios Tzepos

6' 0"
Senior
TJ Usher

TJ Usher

Sophomore
Mark Gislason

Mark Gislason

Junior
Ken Kabeya

Ken Kabeya

Sophomore
Ted Twit

Ted Twit

First Year