Fairfield, CT - On the road at Fairfield tends to be a tough battle and despite dominating possession and territory the Vassar team only scored one try in the first half. Fairfield with limited opportunities scored twice and led 10-5. But the Brewers improved their focus and went to work sticking with their processes to finish solid winners.
Vassar College Women 36 v 15 Fairfield University Women
An early kickoff meant that the Vassar team was on the road at the crack of dawn but the anticipated rain held off and it led to a decent game between these two Tri-State Conference teams.
Fairfield put in a couple of kicks early on to gain territory but they were easily dealt with by Vassar's fullback
Rosie Perkinson. She had a good day overall scoring two tries but just as importantly she cut down ball carriers after a couple of line breaks.
The opening five minutes saw both teams go through phases and do a pretty good job of maintaining possession but as the half wore on the majority of the field position was in Vassar's favor as the Brewers worked to breach the Fairfield defense. Vassar lost scrumhalf
Maisy Richardson after about 14 minutes of play so
Leah Dourmashkin moved into the nine slot and
Chloe Ellis came onto the wing.
Vassar did not capitalize on their territorial position and Fairfield managed to break a few tackles and get into the Vassar half. Once there the home team pushed on and again Vassar players fell off tackles and then Fairfield swung the ball wide and scored in the right hand corner at the 24th minute mark. The response from Vassar was emphatic as Fairfield was forced onto the back foot. Quicker ruck ball was generated and eventually
Leah Dourmashkin dived over from a ruck on the right side of the goal posts. The match was tied at 5-5.
But Fairfield would have the last say in the first half and with the final play they again broke tackles to get into the Vassar 22 and while initially the Brewer defense held on the goal line eventually Fairfield got the ball wide and went over in the corner. So the home team led 10-5 after 40 minutes.
Six minutes into the second half Vassar's tighthead,
Eleanor Jacoby, plunged over after some picking close to the Fairfield line and with
Nadya LaMarr's conversion Vassar took the lead 12-10 and would never relinquish it. The forwards needed to set the tone and that they did when carrying the ball. Five minutes later after some intense direct running the ball was put through the hands and
Rosie Perkinson scored and 12 became 19. The direct running was not all forwards, at flyhalf
Sabine Weil bosched through her opposite number a couple of times and it was good to see Vassar taking the fight to the opposition.
Perhaps the Vassar players were feeling that the job was done but that is always a sin before the full 80 minutes is up. Fairfield came charging back breaking a couple of tackles and offloading. The Vassar defenders were guilty of jersey pulling and stepping aside trying to drag the ball carrier down. It led to a Fairfield try and it was a close match again at 19-15.
Fairfield fielded the restart, went through a couple of phases and then kicked away possession and
Rosie Perkinson ran the ball back from the halfway line. The ruck was won and the Brewers went through 5 more phases before the ball went to the backs and
Rahmat Gambari broke through to score. 50 yards, 6 phases and a 24-15 lead.
The Vassar pack was working hard and making yards and it paid dividends as
AC Smith back this Fall after a year out following knee surgery scooted over for a try. LaMarr was successful with the kick and 31-15 was a margin too large to catch at this late stage of the match. Another try gave Perkinson her brace of scores and the final was 36-15.
It is important to note that while the scorers get the press and are lauded for their achievements there are a host of players that work tirelessly for the 80 minutes who deserve mention. Ella Maniatis,
Emma Niehaus and
Jo Ellis come to mind for their consistency of ball carrying and tackling.
