NEW HAVEN, CT (January 18, 2010) – In the type of match that helps build a championship caliber team later in the season, the Vassar College men's fencing team battled heartily, but was ultimately defeated by a strong Yale team, 15-12, on Monday evening.

The loss drops the Brewers to 9-6 on the season with a big North East Conference Saturday ahead, with matches against Brandies, Brown, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tufts and host Boston College.

“Yale was just the sort of match we needed to get us going after not fencing since November 29” said head coach Bruce Gillman. “We had our chances to win and we were only two bouts away from earning a victory. We shook off the rust and will be ready for a challenging Saturday of conference matches.”

Gillman recognized the outstanding bouts that freshman Tavish Pegram had in a 2-1 record in the foil and sophomore Nicholas Johnson produced with a 2-1 record in the epee.

The epee squad won 5-4 behind Johnson, senior captain Zach Pattison-Gordon, sophomore Brian Rouse, and freshman Dan Flynn.

Foil was narrowly defeated 5-4. Pegram went 2-1, and the Brewers got one victory each from senior Jesse Bisignano and junior Mike D'Urso.

Sabre was defeated 6-3, getting single victories from senior captain John Rothman, junior Dennis D'Urso and senior Jonathan Hirokawa.