New Paltz, NY - In a round-robin 3 team 7s tournament hosted by SUNY-New Paltz Men's Rugby the Vassar men lost their opener to the hosts but defeated SUNY-Oneonta to set up a rematch between the top 2 teams in the final. The lessons of game one were taken to heart and given a chance at redemption the Brewers grabbed it with both hands.

Game 1
Vassar College Men 0 v 15 SUNY-New Paltz Men
In this opening game Vassar faced a very motivated and energetic New Paltz 7. Playing down the slight slope Vassar pressured a lot in the first half and really should have scored two tries. In fact, Kaiden Tocher twice thought he had gone over but was actually at the 5-meter line! Ben Remy went close down the right wing and later in the game a pass to a wide open Remy was adjudged forward. Vassar had created opportunities but not converted any of these chances.

Full credit is due New Paltz as they hustled and tackled like their lives depended on it. The Hawks took their one good chance in the first half when the runner slipped a tackle and led 5-0 at the half. Two later scores also due to missed tackles put the game to bed.

Team: 1 Max Czekaj 2 Kaiden Tocher 3 Dimitrios Tzepos 9 TJ Usher 10 Mark Gislason 12 Ted Twit 14 Ben Remy.

Game 2
Vassar College Men 31 v 17 SUNY-Oneonta Men
Tries: Kaiden Tocher (1), Mark Gislason (1), Phil Knowlton (1), Ted Twit (1) & Malcolm Oth (1).
Cons: Mark Gislason (2) & Ted Twit (1).

In this must win match a much changed Vassar team took the field and in fact fell behind when Oneonta alertly took a quick throw and scampered over for a simple try. But on the next possession Vassar tied matters up and went on to win convincingly. Phil Knowlton at 9 surprised everyone going down the narrow side from a scrum 20 yards out to score in the corner. This try was preceded by one from Tocher and another from Mark Gislason. The latter did a spin move that was so slow it fooled everyone! The win set up a rematch with SUNY-New Paltz.

Team: 1 Kaiden Tocher 2 Sriram Soundarapandian 3 Malcolm Oth 9 Phil Knowlton 10 Mark Gislason 12 Ted Twit 14 Ben Remy. 

Game 3 - Final
Vassar College Men 19 v 7 SUNY-New Paltz Men
Tries: TJ Usher (2) & Kaiden Tocher (1).
Cons: Mark Gislason (1) & Ted Twit (1).

A second match-up with New Paltz was what the Brewers wanted and this time the lineup was changed putting TJ Usher out in the center rather than at 9. His pairing with Ben Remy on the wing gave the Brewers real pace on the outside. Ted Twit went to scrumhalf and in came rookie Malcolm Oth to partner Max Czekaj and Kaiden Tocher in the front row.

It was another tense affair but this time Vassar didn't force the issue and if room on the outside was closed down the ball was pulled back and moved the other way. Usher did this a couple of times and then on the next opportunity he sliced through between 2 defenders and scored. Vassar led 5-0 and it stayed that way until halftime.

New Paltz attacked early in the second half but were turned over on the Vassar right wing as Ben Remy won a crucial ruck. The ball was swung wide to Usher out on the left wing and he scorched the earth running 75 yards to put Vassar ahead 12-0. It was like a dagger in the heart of the New Paltz team. One minute they had looked like evening the score and moments later the gap was wider at 12 points.

But Vassar wasn't done yet and a very deserved try by Kaiden Tocher gave the Brewers a 19 point cushion. New Paltz scored with the last move of the match but it was too little too late.

Team: 1 Max Czekaj 2 Kaiden Tocher 3 Malcolm Oth 9 Ted Twit 10 Mark Gislason 12 TJ Usher 14 Ben Remy.

XVs Game
Vassar College Men 10 v 10 SUNY-New Paltz Men
Tries: Kaiden Tocher (1) & Mark Gislason (1).

In the last game of the day the teams played a fifteens match. It was a somewhat chaotic affair but Vassar did prevail in the rucks and after falling victim to a try by New Paltz, Kaiden Tocher went over to tie the game up.

The rucks were messy and it favored the ill-disciplined hosts who tended to use their hands but were unseen by the referee. A second try by New Paltz was the result of missed tackles that were preceded by a couple of loose passes. With time running out Vassar pressed and as New Paltz tried to move the ball from their own goal line, a lofted pass was plucked out of the air by the Vassar 10 Mark Gislason. It was a gift and it tied the game. Gislason had the chance to win the match now with a successful conversion but alas his kick was pulled wide.

Team: 15 Ted Twit 14 Ken Kabeya 13 Owen McManus 12 Anthony Kolesar 11 Tony Mwangi 10 Mark Gislason 9 Phil Knowlton 1 Nico Reyes Cardoza 2 Mariano Decarvalho 3 Ben Kaplan 4 Max Czekaj 5 Gene Waddy 6 Malcolm Oth 7 Samia Jaman 8 Kaiden Tocher. 
Subs: Sahaj Sharma for Owen McManus, Sriram Soundarapandian for Ben Kaplan, Robin Auwaeter for Samia Jaman.