In front of a wonderful crowd of alumni, parents and supporters, the Fairfield Women's Rugby team took the field for the first time at Rugby Fest, scheduled to play the most difficult of matches against Vassar College, a team that we have never been able to beat in a 15's matchup. The Top seed was at stake for the conference championships, and we knew that Vassar was going to bring a disciplined game.
Hungry for the ball, Fairfield came out of the gate ready to challenge Vassar in their ruck-steamroller style of play. The first few minutes were full of aggressive tackling and alert defense off the Vassar Rucks, but Vassar was determined to march down the field with their forward swarm offense. A key counter ruck by flanker Ashley O'Connor '25 generated a turnover at the 5:30 mark, giving outside center Emily Raia '24 the space she needed to make a break down the touchline, to draw first blood.
An unfortunate forward pass gave Vassar control of the ball, so they went back to their playbook, to continue their forward drive down the field, working their way down to drive in a try at the corner at 11:47, getting the lead at 5-7.
The next twenty minutes was a true slog for the forwards, who had to play defense in constant recycles. We failed to adjust to the quick nature of the Vassar attack, failing to secure and set the ball cleanly at breakdowns, creating too many turnovers that would put us back on the defensive. Tireless defensive and communication by O'Connor '25, Kalie Manning, '23, Grace Harasimowicz '24, Veronica McAdams '25 and Cristina Coleman '24 were able to slow Vassar down, and did not allow Vassar many opportunities to try to swing it out to the backs.
A key penalty gave us possession in the Vassar's 22, and instead of trying to match Vassar's game, we played our own, sending the ball out wide with a 3-player overload. Strong carry by #12 Nicole Hegarty '23 followed by a pop pass to winger Ashley Mooney '23 gave us a 12-7 lead. Realizing that our backs had a lot of room to move, we moved the ball across the field, and away from Vassar forwards, where our speed was unmatched by the Vassar backs. A strong 15- meter carry by Captain Cassie Pearce '23 followed by a short pass to freshman winger Laura Garofalo '26 gave us some breathing room to end the half at 17-7.
Unfortunately - the nature of Vassar's strategy introduced fatigue and injuries earlier than we had hoped. With Vassar putting in 5-6 players into each ruck, the required work rate did not slow down in the second half, but signs of exhaustion came in as we stopped trying to actively poach balls in the ruck and committed fewer players into the rucks. Within the first 6 minutes, Vassar pushed in a second try, reducing the lead to 17 - 12.
With no room for error, Fairfield remained on defense for the next series and any penalties or turnovers that were given to us were frittered away due to unlucky knock-ons and missed kicks to touch. We were unable to play our game, and the ever-patient Vassar maintained possession for the next 12 minutes, with their mob-style rucking, and stronger scrums. Penalties against us further exhausted any chances we had to defend the ball within 5 meters of our try line, and Vassar was able to score again to take the lead at 17-19.
With our lead gone, Fairfield turned back to wider attacks, trying to keep the ball alive and moving it away from the Vassar forward. Quicker ball and increased intensity from Pearce gave us momentum until we had a delayed injury time with Cristina Coleman out with a neck injury (NB: she is stable with strained neck muscles and ligaments). The injury was upsetting to the team, and the team could have lost their momentum, but instead captains Kieran McAllister '23 and Pearce '23 rallied the team to finish strong. The game resumed with a penalty, which Pearce '23 took up the field, crashing through 8 Vassar players, creating quick ball out to McAdams '25, who ran 5 additional meters past the gain line to further disrupt Vassar. With Vassar on their heels and a surplus of Fairfield women looking for the ball, we push the ball past the traffic jam set up by McAdams '25, to give Raia '24 the space she needed to run the ball in, taking the lead back to 22-19.
Vassar made a strong effort to keep wearing down our defense on the next 9 minutes, but the Fairfield women refused to let them drive in another try, with a tackle by Maggie Kelly '25 to force a turnover in the try zone, and 3 key ball holdups in the try zone. Tremendous effort by the team to prevent Vassar taking the lead back at a crucial time. A key non-release penalty gave us possession, and the women refused to give the ball back to Vassar, as they turned up their ferocity in the rucks, to give the backs time and space to move the ball out wide, where Raia '24 escaped a shirt tackle to sprint the ball from the Fairfield 22m line all the way for a try and a 27-19 lead.
At this time, Vassar was also out of steam and facing only 8 minutes to score at equalize the game, we flipped the script, to send the ball out wide whenever we could. Key support from the backline allowed us to secure the breakdowns and get the ball out before any Vassar support could arrive. Hungry for the ball, and solid SH work by Brigid Muller '25 gave McAllister '23 the gap she needed to punch through the middle of the field, to score and convert, securing the lead at 34-19.
Our backs and our valued reserves stepped in to pick up the slack for the last minutes of the game, continuously being in wide support to get the ball out of the Vassar traffic, giving Raia '24 an almost identical run as her earlier try, with a conversion my McAllister '23 to end the match at 41-19.
Given the nature of the battle, we knew we would have to rely on our finishers, and they did not disappoint. Kudos to Sophomores Alyssa Bruno '25, Kayla Fox '25, and Nicole Reynolds '25, Junior Julia Kilroy '24, and Freshman Lauren Cunneen '26. A special shout out to all of the forwards and especially flankers Julia Demetropoulos '25 and Ashley O'Connor '25 - who made key tackles to shut down any back-plays from Vassar. The forwards won this game, with the backs delivering to put up the points to give us a definitive victory.
Congrats to our Forwards BOP Cassie Pearce, with her incredible defensive play and dominant carries; as well as to the Backs BOP Emily Raia '24 with her key tackles and blazingly fast runs to capitalize on gaps to establish the win.
Match Report submitted by Jane Kim, Women's Head Coach.
