Fairfield completed their excellent Tri-State season by dismantling a very strong Vassar team 51-14 in the final of the Tri-State Men’s DII Collegiate Conference.

As has been the case all season, Fairfield did the job primarily with defense.

“Our defense was the best it’s ever been,” said Fairfield hooker and club president Anif McDonald. “They do a lot of forward crashes and we needed to stay in our defensive line and make our tackles, and we did.”

Offensively Fairfield executed well, using the forwards to suck in the defense and spinning it wide quickly.

“It was all about getting positive yards for us with the forwards, and we had some unreal crashes, just pushing through the line,” said McDonald. “We were able to push them back and get the ball out quickly and hit the holes.”

All that was all well and good, but the win was really all about stopping the Brewer first.

Leading the way for the Fairfield defense was flanker Richard Park and lock forwards Jamison Wellman and Jared Lanzi. In the backs, flyhalf Alex Cucchi guarded the inside channels well.

Fairfield now has a date with Notre Dame College, who won the Mid-Atlantic Rugby Conference Sunday with a win over Rowan University. The winner of that game faces James Madison in the Round of 16.