POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (December 8, 2008) -- The Vassar men's fencing team hosted Penn State, Princeton Harvard, NYU, and Scared Heart in Walker Field House and won two of five matches against some of the finest teams in the country. The Brewers lost to 2007 NCAA Champion Penn State, 2006 NCAA Champion Harvard, and to a tough Princeton squad, but were victorious over NYU and Sacred Heart.

The Brewers enter the semester break at 4-4 and will resume competition on January 17 at home against Yale and Detroit Mercy.

Head coach Bruce Gillman highlighted outstanding performances from senior Alex Snow (Silver Springs, MA/George C. Marshall) who went 8-6 in the sabre, sophomore Andrew Fischl (Huntington, NY/Harborfields) who went 7-7 in the sabre, freshman Jon Pucci (Erwinna, PA/Palisades), compiling an 8-6 record in the epee and freshman Nick Johnson (Byfield, MA/St. John's Prepatory) who fences in both the epee (3-6) and foil (4-2).

Round 1 – Vassar 6 – Penn State 21

Penn State won the 2007 NCAA Championship and will host the 2009 NCAA Championship. The ten-time national champions blanked Vassar in the foil, but the Brewers won two tough wins in the epee and four in the sabre, one away from a squad victory. According to Gillman, the Penn State match helped get the Brewers ready for their second round match against NYU.

Round 2 – Vassar 15 – NYU 12

For only the second time in school history, the Brewers defeated NYU. Last years victory was orchestrated by an unprecedented upset in foil. This year, the epee and sabre teams led the charge with Pucci going 3-0 in epee and Fischl 3-0 in sabre. Junior Zach Pattison-Gordon (Arlington, MA/Arlington), freshman Brian Rouse (Middletown, CT/Middletown) and junior John Rothman (Wyckoff, NJ/Ramapo) each went at 2-1 in sabre bouts. Johnson had two key foil victories in this round.

Round 3 – Vassar 14 – Sacred Heart 13

The Brewers had their closest match of the afternnon against Sacred Heart. The sabre squad did its job, losing only to Sacred Heart freshman phenom Marty Williams to take a 6-3 squad lead. Epee finished 3-6, leaving the outcome in the hands of the foil team. Despite another 2-1 showing by utility man Johnson, the team mark was 4-4 when sophomore squad leader Mike D'Urso (Peadboy, MA/St. Johns Prep) started the final bout. The bout was evenly contested with D'Urso winning 5-4, leading the foil squad to a 5-4 victory and the Brewers to a 14-13 team win.

Round 4 – Vassar 6 – Harvard 21

The 2006 NCAA Champions were a tough match for the Brewers. The only one to make any headway against the Crimson was Snow, who managed to get two sabre wins on the way to a 3-6 squad mark. Johnson had an excruciatingly close bout with 2006 Individual NCAA Epee Champion Benji Ungar. Johnson managed to take a 4-3 lead, but fell to Ungar 5-4 in the end.

Round 5 – Vassar 5 – Princeton 22

Princeton fielded a stronger team this season than last year's club that defeated Vassar 18-9. The Tigers gained three top freshman foilists and have strong sabre and epee squads. The Brewers had four epee victories and one sabre win for Snow.