PROVIDENCE, RI (January 22, 2001) — In a key multi-meet which pitted the Vassar College Men's Fencing Team against their Northeast Conference competitors for the first official time this season, the Brewers—unlike the team bus—managed to cruise, finishing 4-1 on the day and placing themselves in prime position to contend for their first ever League Championship.

Though they had faced in-conference rival Sacred Heart during an earlier match-up, losing by a score of 10-17, the field at Brown University provided the Brewers with their first meetings which officially count towards final conference standings (the Brewers get a shot at revenge with Sacred Heart when the face the remaining teams in the Northeast Conference at Wellesley on Saturday, February 6 in a multi-meet which may very well determine the league champions). The competition slate included Brown, Tufts, Boston College, Brandeis and MIT, and when the dust had settled the Brewers finished with an impressive 4-1 mark, improving their season total to 19-8.

Though the day had an inauspicious start, with the team bus breaking down en route to Providence, forcing a delay of over 90 minutes, the Brewers put forth huge effort, placing themselves on the inside track for walking away with the League Championship. While the championship formula for the Women's team is simply winning out, the road for the men is slightly more complicated. As things stand now, there are only two teams with fewer than two in-conference defeats: the Brewers, with a single loss to Brown, and the Sacred Heart Pioneers, who are currently undefeated in the conference.

Should the Brewers win-out at Wellesley, which would include a victory over the Pioneers, they can finish no worse than second place. If Sacred Heart manages to win its remaining conference matches outside of its showdown with the Brewers, the two teams would be tied for first place with only a single loss a piece.

With the showdown with Sacred Heart looming large on the horizon, here's a round-by-round breakdown of how the Brewer's battled into prime position:

Round 1: Bye

Round 2: Vassar 11, Brown 16

The Brewers' lone loss on the day came right away, as the Brown Bears clashed with Vassar in a fiercely contested opening match-up. While the Vassar epee squad managed to shine with a superb 8-1 mark against Brown, powered by the 3-0 sweeps of junior Nick Johnson and sophomore Tavish Pegram, Brown would convincingly control both foil and sabre to claim the victory. The Brown Bears turned the table against the Brewers in foil, cruising to an 8-1 finish with freshman Alex Bue providing the lone Vassar victory. The situation was only slightly better in sabre, where Brown defeated the Brewers 7-2, with seniors Andrew Fischl and Dennis D'Urso providing the victories.

Round 3: Vassar 22, Tufts 5

The Brewers rebounded with a vengeance against the Tufts University Jumbos, claiming victories in all three weapons en route to a convincing victory. Recovering quickly from their lopsided loss to Brown, the foil squad posted a perfect 9-0 record against the Jumbos, with Bue and senior co-captain Mike D'Urso both running the table 3-0. The other 3 victories in foil were split between sophomore Alex Vastola and freshman Giovanni Zaccheo. The epee squad continued its dominance from the previous round, finishing with a 7-2 mark powered by another perfect finish by Pegram. The sabre side claimed a victory of 6-3, with co-captain Fischl sweeping the field.

Round 4: Bye

Note: The Brewers received two byes due to the fact that, in addition to their normal bye, this round was played against Smith College.

Round 5: Vassar 15 , BC 12

In a trend that would largely continue throughout the day, the epee squad was the difference maker against the Eagles, providing Vassar with its only squad victory by a 7-2 margin behind Johnson's flawless 3-0 mark. Foil and sabre both fell to the Eagles by identical 4-5, despite the 3-0 effort of Bue and the 2-1 showing for Fischl. Even so, the epee squad's victories proved enough to push the Brewers past the Eagles and maintain their streak heading into the final two rounds.

Round 6: Vassar 17, Brandeis 10

Vassar came into this round expecting a challenge from the historically formidable Judges and, while the match was certainly hard-fought, managed to walk away with a considerable victory. The epee squad led the way yet again, finishing 7-2 behind yet another sweep by Pegram. The sabre side added a 6-3 victory to the team effort, with Fischl remaining flawless in all three rounds against the Judges. Brandies would get its lone weapon victory in foil, by the single-bout margin of 5-4 despite a 2-1 effort from D'Urso.

Round 7: Vassar 20, MIT 7

The Brewers finished the day strong, posting a dominate win over the MIT Engineers to close out the meet. As was the story of the day, epee was at the forefront of all the action with an 8-1 victory, with Pegram continuing with his habit of finishing the round a perfect 3-0 and Johnson joining him in the effort. Sabre was equally impressive, winning behind a 7-2 mark fueled by sweeps by Fischl and freshman John Arden. Foil would make it a 3 weapon sweep, though by the closer score of 5-4, thanks in large part to a 2-0 effort by Zaccheo and a victory for Vastola, who replaced him off the bench in the final round.

The Brewers will next travel to Yale on Monday, January 31 for a 7:00 P.M. meeting with the Bulldogs in order to make up for the postponed match which was scheduled for the January 18. After that, they travel to Wellesley on Saturday, February 6 to face the remaining teams in the Northeast Conference. The Brewers have their eyes on a League Title, and with the straightforward approach to simply win-out, they can put themselves in ideal position to capture it for the first time in program history in two weeks.