Poughkeepsie, NY -  The Syracuse University Women's Rugby team made the long trip to Poughkeepsie for an early season match-up as both these teams prepare to open their Fall 2025 Conference campaigns next weekend. Syracuse are the 2-time defending champions of the Upstate New York Conference but this would be a stern test for the Orange given Vassar's track record over the past few years and the fact that the Brewers have 28 returners in their squad.

Vassar College Women 58 v 5 Syracuse University Women
Tries: Yasmeen Kassem-Scott (2), Sophia Bailey (4), Jude Robinson (1), Matty Sumrow (1), Kiki Takata (1) &  Emma Niehaus (1).
Cons: Emma Niehaus (4).

Vassar's Yasmeen Kassem-Scott got out of the blocks fast in this contest. The opening tackle and two strong runs saw the Number 8 scre a try after just a minute of play! Syracuse responded after regaining possession following a forward pass and from that scrum they went through a number phases with a couple of strong runs but then knocked the ball forward. The Vassar team definitely had an urgency and directness to their play and that paid dividends as ball carriers got over the gain line. The second try came after scrumhalf Sophia Bailey darted around a ruck and when tackled chose to release the ball, get to their feet and pick it up again to dive over.

Syracuse tried to stem the flow of possession by attempting to jackal at the breakdown but apart from a couple of instances the Vassar support was close and dealt swiftly with these attempts. This ability of each Vassar player to stop jacklers and thus allow the team to win quick ball is going to be essential. Early on Tate Wagner, Sarah Towne and Julia Wolff made some excellent clearouts.

The Syracuse center made a good line break from their half and was tackled in the Vassar half at the 10 meters line by Jude Robinson. At that breakdown Ella Maniatis stole the ball and the team went through 9 phases before Jude Robinson scored in the right hand corner. The Vassar backs were looking sharp and even before this passage of play Matty Sumrow had made some good punches over the gain line.

Syracuse was being starved of the ball and Vassar was able to dictate play. Another 4 tries before the half and the game was out of sight for the visitors. Vassar's lineout was functioning well but an area of concern was the reception of the kick-offs. Goodness knows there was plenty of opportunity for practice! Too often the ball was left to bounce and that has to be fixed. Players must want to catch the ball and get directly under it to do so.

In the second 40 minutes Syracuse had more of the ball and there were carries with runners getting over the gainline but generally it was a bit lateral and then the flyhalf would resort to kicking. That did not work out well as the quality was lacking so possession was surrendered.

Vassar had made significant changes with Weil, Sumrow and Robinson taken off. Makaela Weldon was in the center and there was no loss of efficiency there. Three tries in the second half saw Vassar seal the victory and the team had also practiced building their defense.

The key will be to build on this and become more efficient and clinical. Tougher days are ahead and Syracuse too will be a stronger team come November and playoff time.
Team: 15 Jude Robinson 14 Rosie Perkinson 13 Ella Maniatis 12 Matty Sumrow 11 Leah Dourmashkin 10 Sabine Weil 9 Sophia Bailey 1 Cae Bardsley-Cutler 2 Emma Niehaus 3 AC Smith 4 Julia Wolff 5 Sarah Towne 6 Mette McKinney 7 Tate Wagner 8 Yasmeen Kassem-Scott.
Subs: Chloe Bilger for Sarah Towne, Elle Carr for Chloe Bilger, Kiki Takata for Tate Wagner, Makaela Weldon for Matty Sumrow, Nadya LaMarr for Jude Robinson, Chloe Ellis for Sabine Weil, Gabby Gitau for Cae Bardsley Cutler, Maisy Richardson for Sophia Bailey.

2025-26 Record: 2-0-0.

Next: Saturday September 21st, 2025 Vassar College Women versus Fordham University Women at Vassar College Farm KO: 12:00 pm (B-side game to follow at 1:30 pm)

Saturday September 13th, 2025

Vassar College Women B 70 v 5 SUNY-New Paltz Women
Tries: Maisy Richardson (4), Gus Pointer Mace (3), Sarah Towne (1), Rahmat Gambari (3) & Sadye Krell (1).
Cons: Sarah Towne (3) & Chloe Ellis (2).
One of the significant benefits to having a strong starting lineup is that the standards set if driven hard generally force all to be better. A good number of the Vassar B-side players are seriously challenging or at the same level as the A-side. Add in the desire to play in the A-side and you have a focused team with players trying to impress.

SUNY-New Paltz ran into a buzzsaw and the power was on for the full game! Maisy Richardson collected 4 tries and is a strong direct runner. Fullback Rahmat Gambari is fast becoming a force and they collected 3 tries. Up front Gus Pointer Mace had another solid weekend and a hat trick of tries was earned. 

The pack dominated and the set scrums gave a good platform for the backs where Chloe Ellis pulled the strings like a concert violinist. One could discern the Vassar attack patterns and New Paltz were left clutching at straws. A 12-try emphatic victory was the result.

Team: 15 Rahmat Gambari 14 Lydiua Hong 13 Sadye Krell 12 Makaela Weldon 11 Ava Rowland 10Chloe Ellis 9 Maisy Richardson 1 Gabby Gitau 2 Grace Rich 3 Dea Edwards 4 Zoey Ojalvo 5 Ina Zaslavsky 6 Gus Pointer Mace 7 Annika Szturma 8 Elle Carr. Subs: Sarah Towne for Dea Edwards, AC Smith for Sarah Towne, Leah Dourmashkin for Makaela Weldon, Sabine Weil for Leah Dourmashkin.