WALTHAM, MA (March 2, 2013) – Snow postponed the Northeast Fencing Conference Meet #3 on February 9, but when it was rescheduled today, the weather didn't stop the Vassar College men's fencing team from going 3-1 in the competition. The Brewers only lost to four time champion Sacred Heart.

In foil, Matt Steinscneider was 8-4. In sabre, John Arden 10-2 and Zach Wilson was 8-4. In epee, Tavish Pegram was 10-2.

Round 1 – Vassar 18, University of Massachusetts 9
This was a good first round warmup for Vassar. Both sabre and epee were close. UMass won a narrow 5-4 sabre squad victory and Vassar was 5-4 in epee with Pegram undefeated in the round. Vassar foil came and saved the day with all three foilists – Steinschneider, Alex Vastola, and Trequan Artis 3-0.

Round 3 – Vassar 5  Sacred Heart University 22
Defending Conference Champion SHU was on a mission and Vassar was just in the way. After the great start in the first round, the Vassar foilists were defeated 9-0. Some of the bouts were close, but SHU rose to the occasion in every one. Pegram managed two wins in epee and Arden matched him in sabre with the last win a bit of a pleasant surprise by freshman sabre fencer Elam Coalson.

Round 4 – Vassar 24, Dartmouth 3
Last year Dartmouth beat Vassar at this event. This year was a bit different. All three Vassar squads were charged up for this one. Sabre lead the way with a dominant 9-0 squad win with Arden, Wilson and Coalson all undefeated at 3-0. Epee was 8-1 with Pegram 3-0 and wins by Bobby Maiocco, Nico Mongillo, and Justin Riley. Foil wasn't far behind at 7-2.

Round 5– Vassar 15, Boston University 12
BU made it very close this time around. They were in control in epee. The Vassar squad was only7 able to garner 3 wins. In foil, another surprise, BU was tough and Vastola and Artis could only get one win each to add to Steinschneider's 2. Sabre pulled Vassar out of the fire by blowing out the BU squad 8-1 with Arden and Wilson 3-0 and Coalson 2-1.

Next up for Vassar will be the NCAA Northeast Regional Qualifiers to the NCAA Championships. Arden and Wilson will compete in sabre, Pegram in epee, and Vastola, Steinschneider, and Artis in foil.