POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (November 23, 2009) -- The Vassar men's fencing team remained unbeaten on the season, improving to 8-0 with an impressive 5-0 sweep in the first annual Hudson River Fencing Invitational on Sunday at Walker Field House.

The meet gave the Vassar program a chance to honoring its seniors prior to competition. Those receiving plaques were Zach Pattison-Gordon, John Rothman, San Stoeltje, Jonathan Hirokawa, Jared Berenholz, Jesse Bisignano, and Eric Lynch.

In an afternoon when the Brewers swept competitors from Marist, RPI, New Paltz, Bard and Albany, there were many notable performances, including freshman Alex Vastola (6-0 in the foil), Lynch (7-1 in the foil), junior Conor Kenney (6-0 in the foil),  Hirokawa (12-2 in the sabre), Berenholz (11-0 in the sabre), junior Cody Canning (11-2 in the sabre), sophomore Nick Johnson (8-0 in the epee) and freshman #Dan Flynn (8-0 in the epee).

Round 1 – Vassar 20 – Marist 7
Vassar and Marist have fenced annually for the last few years and their foil and epee fencers presented challenging bouts for the Brewers. Vassar did win handily 6-3 in each weapon. Sabre was strong behind undefeated performances by Berenholz and Canning and the first ever victory for new fencer Jerry Dieudonne.

Round 2 – Vassar 21 – RPI 6
RPI was a team Vassar scrimmaged last season and the Red Hawks were a new dual match opponent this season. Sabre led the way with Canning, Bereholz, and Hirokawa all undefeated. Foil did well at 7-2 with two victories going to Kenney. Epee dropped three bouts, but Flynn and Johnson were undefeated in this round.

Round 3 – Vassar 27- New Paltz 0
All the Vassar squads looked good in this round and swept a young and growing New Paltz program.

Round 4 – Vassar 24 – Bard 3
Bard fielded a full squad of men and with foil going 8-1, epee 7-2, and sabre undefeated at 9-0.

Round 5 – Vassar 21 – Albany 6
The club team at SUNY Albany is more organized than it has been in a number of years. They were late in getting into the Invitational, but fielded a full mens team with some fairly challenging fencers. The Vassar squads again did quite well with foil at 8-1, epee 7-2, and sabre 6-3.

The Brewers will face stiff competition in their next meet, traveling to Harvard on November 29 to fence against  Harvard, Princeton, New York University, North Carolina, Penn State, and Sacred Heart.