MEDFORD, MA (February 6, 2010) – The Vassar College men's fencing team went 4-1 at the Northeast Conference matches held at Tufts University on Saturday. It was a total team performance with victories over UMass, New Hampshire, Boston University and Dartmouth, the only loss coming narrowly against Sacred Heart.

Now 18-11 on the season, the men's team will have two weeks to prepare for the New England Championships being held at Mount Holyoke on February 21.

Two Vassar fencers went undefeated: sophomore Nick Johnson went 13-0 in the epee and freshman Tavish Pegram went 13-0 in the foil. Head coach Bruce Gillman cited outstanding performances from senior Jesse Bisignano who went 11-4 in the foil, senior captain Zach Pattison-Gordon who compiled a 9-4 mark in the epee, freshman Dan Flynn who was 10-4 in the epee, senior captain John Rothman, an 11-4 mark in the sabre, junior Dennis D'Urso, a 10-2 record in the sabre and senior Jared Berenholz, a 9-5 mark in the sabre.

Round 1 – Bye

Round 2 – Vassar 18 – University of Massachusetts 9
Epee started slowly with a 5-4 start, but foil at 6-3, and sabre at 7-2 led the way to a strong start to the day.

Round 3 – Bye

Round 4 – Vassar 23 - University of New Hampshire 4
Epee swept this round at 9-0 with Pattison-Gordon, Johnson and Flynn all going 3-0. Foil went 8-1 with Pegram, Bisignano and Mike D'Urso undefeated. Alex Vastola added one victory. Sabre went 6-3 with Rothman and D'Urso undefeated.

Round 5 – Vassar 22 – Boston University 5
Foil and epee were 7-2, with senior Eric Lynch recording an epee victory. Freshman Jerry Dieudonne was 1-0 in sabre on the way to an 8-1 squad victory.

Round 6 – Vassar 23 – Dartmouth 4
Vassar foil swept at 9-0 with Pegram, Bisignano, Mike D'Urso, and Vastola all contributing victories. Sabre was 8-1 with Dennis D'Urso and Berenholz at 3-0. Epee turned in a solid 6-3 squad mark.

Round 7 – Vassar 12 – Sacred Heart 15
This final match had a little extra emphasis as Vassar had defeated Sacred Heart 14-13 earlier in the season. A victory would have clinched sole possession of the Northeast Conference Men's Championship. The matches between the two schools are always close and exciting and this one was no different. Vassar epee fenced extremely well, setting a 6-3 mark behind an undefeated Johnson. But it just wasn't enough. Even though Pegram provided Vassar's only three foil wins against a tough Sacred Heart squad that defeated both Columbia and NYU 7-2 last week. Rothman and Dennis D'urso were only able to string together three wins