POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (November 9, 2008) – The Vassar men's fencing team was two points away from sweeping its competition in annual Vassar Invitational held at Walker Field House on Sunday morning. A 14-13 loss to Drew prevented the Brewers from a 3-0 match, following a 20-7 victory over Marist and a 15-12 win over Rutgers.

The Brewers, 2-1 on the season, will next fence on November 23 on the road against Haverford. Vassar will return home on December 6 at noon in a meet that features Harvard, NYU, Penn State, Princeton and Sacred Heart.

Outstanding fencers on the day were senior Alex Snow (Silver Spring, MD/George C. Marshall), who went a perfect 7-0 in sabre competition, freshman Nick Johnson (Bayfield, MA/St. John's Preparatory), who went 7-0 in the epee, freshman Jon Pucci (Erwinna, PA/Palisades), 4-0 in the epee, freshman Brian Rouse (Middletown, CT/Middletown) 4-0 in the epee and junior Eric Lynch (Guilford, CT/Guilford), 3-0 in the foil.

Round 1 – Vassar 20 – Marist 7

Foil and Sabre lead the charge against our crosstown neighbors, going 7-2, and 8-1 respectively. Epee was closer at 5-4, but were given a good warm-up opportunity for the next round.

ound 2 – Vassar 13 – Drew 14

“This was a tough loss for Vassar,” said head coach Bruce Gillman. “Drew is a team that has been competitive with us over the years. Two years ago, at our last meeting, we edged them by the same 14-13 score. These are the matches with the teams in the middle that we have to win for a successful season. It didn't quite work out this time.”

Epee was very strong for the Brewers, finishing 7-2, with Johnson and Pucci going 3-0 in the round. Sabre lost two bouts by only one point, with the squad finishing 4-5. According to Gillman, Drew had a strong foil squad, defeating the Brewers 7-2.

Round 3 – Vassar 15 – Rutgers 12

The epee and sabre fencers went 7-2 and 6-3 respectively. The foil contingent needed only one win, but garnered two victories, to close out the match.