Thirty-nine years and one week after Vassar men's rugby team played their first game ever, a 4-0 loss to Union; Saturday Vassar played Union and moved to 4-0 in Tri-State Conference play with a 43-0 shutout.

Led by three tries from center Eli Vargas and two from fullback Joe Simon, Vassar scored seven tries and were never really seriously threatened on defense. It was a strong defensive effort from the Brewers that held Union in check, and that defensive front produced turnovers that paid off with tries, especially for Vargas.

Vassar was without regular starters Louis Khourey and John Winton so freshman George Sheppard had a first start as did John Loree. Both filled in well.

The game was marred by a red card for a Union player for a punch that missed its mark and struck only air, and after that any thought of a Union comeback died.

Vassar Head Coach Tony Brown said he wasn't pleased with his team's precision after Union went down a man, but they still scored four tries.

Up 26-0 at half-time Vassar kept control of the ball with the forwards and were helped by a yellow card that put Union down to 13 men for ten minutes.

That forced Union to kick, which didn't help as Simon at fullback was hugely difficult to contain and ran in one try straight from a kick counter.

Brown said what Vassar suffered from was "lack of intensity at the rucks. Too often players did not do enough and so scrumhalf Jake Sheehy was caught or pressured when he not have been. [We] will need to be so, so much sharper at the breakdown in the coming weeks if they are to emulate last year's effort."