AMHERST, MA (February 11, 2012) – With only nine fencers available due to injury or illness, the Vassar College men's fencing team had a challenging afternoon at the North East Conference Multi Meet #3 at the University of Massachusetts on Saturday. In all, however, the Brewers persevered and emerged from the competition with a 3-2 record.

That Brewers finish the 2011-12 dual match season with a 16-16 record. Vassar will host the NEIFC Championships in Walker Field House on February 25.

Outstanding performers on the day were Nicholas Johnson (13-2) and Brian Rouse (11-4) in epee, Alex Bue (12-3) and Alex Vastola (11-4) in foil, and Matt Steinschneider (10-5) in sabre.

Round 1 – BYE

Round 2 – Vassar 17, University of Massachusetts-Amherst 10
UMass had a pretty good sabre squad. The Vassar squad was only able to manage three wins against them even with Steinschneider at 2-1. Nick Johnson led the epee squad at 3-0 to level the playing field with a 6-3 victory. The match was decided by foil with Vassar going 8-1 with Bue and Giovanni Zaccheo both undefeated in the round.

Round 3 – BYE

Round 4 – Vassar 22, University of New Hampshire 5
UNH was able to take two bouts from Vassar in sabre, but Steinschneider and Kenny Lee were undefeated in the round and Nicholas Mongillo earned his first ever sabre victory. Epee was 7-2 and foil still dominant at 8-1 with Bue and Alex Vastola both at 3-0.

Round 5 - Vassar 12, Dartmouth 15
Dartmouth has a solid epee squad and though Johnson and Rouse were able to both go 2-1 in the round, the Vassar squad lost 4-5. Bue lead the foil squad to a 6-3 victory. Sabre needed to win four bouts to secure a win, but Dartmouth dominated, winning 7-2.

Round 6 – Vassar 22,  Boston University 5
Vassar epee came roaring back in this round, with Johnson, Rouse, and Roberto Maiocco all undefeated at 3-0. Foil followed suit at 8-1 with Bue and Vastola undefeated. Though Steinschneider also went 3-0, BU sabre did but up a fight in sabre, taking four bouts.

Round 7 – Vassar 8, Sacred Heart University 19
This was not the day that Vassar was ready to prevent a dominant SHU team from taking its third straight NFC Championship. Johnson and Rouse fenced valiantly, both going 2-1 in epee, but the squad still fell 4-5. Steinscneider and Lee each had one hard-fought victory in sabre. Zaccheo and Vastola had one each in foil, but that was it for Vassar in the round.