Poughkeepsie, NY - As if the Brewers didn't need reminding, this is a contact sport and generally the team that wins the collisions prevails on the scoreboard. It was a close contest at the half and Vassar had done enough to show that they could engineer a result. But it was going to take a big effort, a lot of concentration and bravery. In fact, even well into the second half when it was 22-15 and still a one score game Vassar might well have tied matters up and gained momentum. But confidence seemed to be lacking and when the Long Island based school scored to go up 27-15 it looked like a bridge too far.

Vassar College Men 15 v 39 SUNY-Maritime College
Tries: TJ Usher (1), Phil Knowlton (2).

Right from the outset it was clear that Maritime would send their forwards charging up the field and then look to spin the ball wider. Vassar put in some solid tackles and Miles Yum stole the ball at the tackle for a good turnover. That should have been the defensive blueprint for 80 minutes with solid tackles, forcing handling errors and a steal here and there.

The opening 15 minutes saw Maritime pushing early at the scrum and defending tenaciously on the fringes of the ruck. But Vassar managed to get some go forward despite losing 2 lineouts. But after the early foray into the Maritime half the visitors punched their way into Vassar's 22 where they camped. Credit is due the Brewers for trying to stem the tide but eventually the dam broke and Maritime took the lead 5-0 when a couple of their forwards drove over the goal line and Vassar lost flanker Sawyer Bivins and Wren Alger went on in his place.

The excited visitors, who had lost to Vassar last year in the Conference semifinal 50-28, came charging back upfield. It was little more than smash forward and recycle but it was effective. Vassar was stunned and a bit slow to get set up which also meant there were gaps to exploit. 5-0 became 10-0 within minutes. There were a number of good big tackles put in by Vassar defenders but it was not enough to stop the attack. Finn Smith and McCarthy Barber along with others made tackles on strong Maritime runners. The problem was Vassar couldn't get the ball. Maritime bullied their way forward and two passes away from the ruck went over and it was 15-0.

Vassar responded well and managed to go through some phases and work their way into the Maritime 22. Although a knock-on stalled the attack from the ensuing scrum the Maritime flyhalf elected to kick from his own 22. Vassar's McCarthy Barber fielded the ball and when tackled presented it well whereupon Anthony Kolesar whipped out a pass to TJ Usher who went down the wing to score in the corner. It was a welcome score from the home team and at 15-5 they had got themselves back into the fight.

The try was just what the doctor ordered and Vassar had a good spell with the ball maintaining possession and pushing the Maritime College back. Lock Gene Carlton Waddy had a number of good runs and this was his best game of the season thus far. However, a missed penalty kick to touch took the wind out of their sails and Maritime countered getting into the Vassar half. But Vassar managed to get the ball back and finally a lineout was caught and driven just before the end of the half and although the ball was knocked on when delivered to the backs Vassar had finished the half with some positives.

Vassar had the perfect start to the second half as a Maritime receiver knocked on the kickoff. The Brewers won the scrum, went through a couple of phases and then from a short range penalty Phil Knowlton dived over. Suddenly it was 15-10 and all bets were off. Vassar received the kickoff but a couple of phases later knocked on. Maritime did the same but Vassar lost their own put-in at a scrum and Maritime's Number 8 went over under the posts after some weak tackling. 22-10 ws still a close game but the visitors had wrestled back the momentum. 

Vassar again had good individual efforts defensively but there were also missed tackles. But the Brewers did manage to drive a lineout forward and then Phil Knowlton spun out and ran in for a try and once again it was a 1 score game at 22-15.

At the restart Vassar dropped the ball and it allowed Maritime to have good field position and a scrum. The Number 8 picked up and ran well but fortunately McCarthy Barber managed to tackle him and prevent the try being scored. The problem was that Vassar kept letting Maritime back in to the contest with unforced errors or missed tackles and the maritime players knew they could run and make big yards if they just pinned their ears back!

The team will have learnt how important it is to tackle and get set up swiftly. Every player must be ready for the intensity of the physical contact and pace of the game. Today was another step on the ladder of experience and all will be better players for this game.

Team: 15 McCarthy Barber 14 Alex Gough-Schnapp 13 Rhese Fine 12 TJ Usher 11 Asa Rosenberg 10 Marius Kruse 9 Anthony Kolesar 1 Finn Smith 2 Phil Knowlton 3 Ben Kaplan 4 Theo Rankin 5 Gene Waddy 6 Sawyer Bivins 7 Miles Yum 8 Muhammad Muhammad Al-Shaebani
Subs: Bowie Grabner, Ezra Feddersen, Owen McManus, Cyrus Carlson, Brandon Jones, Wren Alger, Josh Maddaloni, Yi Qin, & Will Hamilton.
Injured: Luca Pereira Frears.
Unavailable: Chris Jones, Alvin Gathara & Riddhit Mitra.

Record: 1-3-0.

Next: Sunday October 11, 2026 Vassar College Men at USMMA, Kings Point KO 1:00 pm