POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (November 14, 2010) — The Vassar College men's fencing team team walked away with a 4-2 record after facing a field of solid competitors at the season opening multi-meet at Walker Field House on Sunday. Senior co-captain Andrew Fischl provided the spark for the Brewers, finishing the day with an impressive 14-2 record as his teammates fought against some surprisingly stiff competition to get their team season underway. Here's a look at the round by round breakdown:

ROUND 1: Vassar 21, Yeshiva 6

The foil squad started the day off hot against the Maccabees, finishing a perfect 9-0 while showing some of the formidable depth that looks to be one of the cornerstones of their season. Freshman Alex Bue posted the only 3-0 record, due to successful contributions off the bench by freshman Giovanni Zaccheo and sophomore Alex Vastola. The epee squad also started the day with a fast start, defeating Yeshiva 7-2 behind a pair of victories by junior Brian Rouse and sophomore Tavish Pegram, along with bench victories by senior Conor Kenney and freshman Tushar Agarwal. The sabre squad faced a surprising challenge from the Maccabees, pulling off a narrow 5-4 thanks in large part to a pair of victories by Fischl and sophomore Jerry Dieudonne.

ROUND 2: Vassar 20, Hunter 7

Faced with the challenge of a strong Hawks side, the Brewers looked to the sabre squad to blaze the way with an 8-1 victory keyed by identical 3-0 marks by Fischl and senior Dennis D'Urso. Epee and foil did their share of the work with matching 6-3 records, with senior co-captain Mike D'Urso staying undefeated in foil and Rouse and junior Nick Johnson contributing a pair each on the epee side before subbing out in the final round. Despite a somewhat unexpectedly strong fight from Hunter, the men kept in form to beat the Hawks in convincing fashion and improve to 2-0 on the afternoon.

ROUND 3: Vassar 17, Stevens 10

In a rare match-up with Stevens, the Brewers came up when it mattered most against their first strong challenge of the day. Foil again provided big returns for the team with a 7-2 victory with Bue posting another perfect 3-0 tally. Things were considerably tighter for epee and sabre, who both escaped surprising challenges from the Ducks with 5-4 records. Rouse was outstanding yet again in epee, remaining undefeated on the afternoon with another 3-0 run, while Fischl and Dieudonne both finished 2-1 to lift the sabre squad. The Brewers took a perfect 3-0 record into their fourth round, which would prove to be an even tougher battle than the one they had just concluded with Stevens.

ROUND 4: Vassar 10, Haverford 17

Going into the fourth round, the Brewers knew that their match up with the Black Squirrels was likely to be their toughest on the day, and Haverford was quick to live up to that expectation. Haverford dropped Vassar into a big hole early with a near sweep of the first round, and despite righting themselves somewhat, the deficit proved too much for Vassar to overcome. The lone bright spot was the epee squad—the only squad to beat Haverford with a 6-3 effort powered by a Pegram's 3-0 performance and a 2-0 mark by Johnson. Sabre managed only a 3-6 record against the Black Squirrels, with Fischl's 2-1 finish being the only won to top Haverford. Foil bore the brunt of the loss, falling 1-8, with freshman Matt Steinschieder providing the lone victory. The Black Squirrels dropped the Brewers to 3-1 on the day, ending their hopes of a clean sweep, but Vassar wasn't going to give up yet and looked to their next opponent in order to get a little revenge.

ROUND 5: Vassar 20, Drew 7

The Brewers wasted no time in rebounding from their tough loss to Haverford, and took it out thoroughly on the Rangers. Sabre gave Vassar a big lift with another 8-1 victory, with Fischl and D'Urso both running the table 3-0. Epee was right behind them with a 7-2 effort, fueled by perfect 2-0 records by starters Rouse, Johnson and Pegram as well as Kenney's victory of the bench. The competition was closest in foil, where the Brewers sealed a 5-4 win with Bue's third round victory. The men managed to shrug off the loss to Haverford to improve to 4-1 on the afternoon, heading into their closing match with West Point.

ROUND 6: Vassar 13, Army 14

Army has proven to be a persistent thorn in the Brewers' side the past several season, and Sunday was no exception as they escaped with a 14-13 victory that all hinged on one final foil bout. With Vassar hovering at 13-12, the foil side found themselves with two consecutive chances to clinch the match, but had to rely on a pair of subs — Zaccheo and Vastola — to do so. Despite fighting valiantly, both fencers were unable to overcome their opponents and foil fell to Army 4-5. Sabre was the lone squad to pull off a victory, with a 5-4 mark behind another 3-0 effort by Fischl. Epee suffered the same 4-5 fate as foil, despite 3 victories by Rouse. In was a heartbreaking way to end the day, but when all was said and done the Brewers still managed to walk through a tough field of capable teams and emerge with a 4-2 overall record, and looks to finish even better when they next compete on Sunday, November 22 at Walker.