By Bruce Gillman
Head Coach

PRINCETON, NJ (December 3, 2007) -- The Vassar Men's Fencing Team went into a tough Princeton Invitational and came out with dual match victories against UNC and NYU for the first time in school history. The Brewers lost to 2007 NCAA Champion Penn State, 2006 NCAA Champion Harvard, and host Princeton, but Vassar definitely exceeded expectations on the day.

Outstanding fencers on the day for the Vassar Men's Fencing Team were Alex Snow (junior. sabre 9-5), Andrew Fischl (freshman, sabre 8-7), Conor Kenney (freshman, foil 6-1), Jesee Bisignano (sophomore, foil 8-7), and Zach Pattison-Gordon (sophomore, epee 8-7).

Round 1 – Vassar 4 – Penn State 23

Penn State is the defending NCAA Champion. In fact, they have won 10 times. They we a great warmup for us even though we were more like a snack to them. We were able to get 2 tough foil wins and 2 tough sabre wins, but the team was more than ready for our 2nd round opponents.

Round 2 – Vassar 16 – University of North Carolina 11

This was only the 2nd time we have every fenced UNC in a dual match. We lost ti them in the Philadelphia Invitational last year. This year was to be different. Epee went on a roll with Captain Paul Brehm and sophomore Hassan Sakhtah going 2-0 and 3-0 respectively. Foil hung in there going 4-5 and Sabre clinched the victory by going 6-3 with an undefeated performance by junior Alex Snow.

Round 3 – Vassar 15 - New York University 12

This win in unprecedented in Vassar fencing history. Vassar fences usually NYU every year either at Columbia or NYU in February. Vassar has always been a guest at this marquee match, always losing to both teams. Not this time! Sabre had some trouble, only posting a 3-6 record and losing some close bouts, but foil and epee more than made up for the deficit by pounding NYU 6-3 for each squad. Jesse Bisignano and Conor Kenney both went 3-0 in foil against tough “A” class fencers with National points. Zach Pattison-Gordon was undefeated in epee to seal the victory.

Round 4 – Vassar 8 – Harvard 19

Vassar meets Harvard at the IFA Championships every year, but this is the first opportunity that we have had to fence the 2006 NCAA Champions in a dual match. We will now do so every year. Zach Pattison-Gordon posted a 2-1 record in epee against stiff competition. Andrew Fischl went 2-1 in sabre, losing his final bout in the round by only one touch. Otherwise, it was a great learning experience.

Round 5 – Vassar 8 – Princeton 19

Princeton is another tough IFA Division one opponent that we have not had on our regular dual match schedule in the past. We did fence them two years ago with a similar result. We might have fared better against them if we had faced them earlier in the day. Zach Pattison-Gordon won two bouts again (one 2-1 at the expiration of time and the other in overtime). Andrew Fischl again won two bouts, losing his third by only one touch.

The next match for the Vassar Men's Team will be at West Point on Sunday, January 20, 2008 against Army, Hunter and NJIT.