PROVIDENCE, RI (January 24, 2015) -- The Vassar College men's fencing team opened its Northeast Fencing Conference slate Saturday afternoon, going 2-4 at the first conference showdown for the Brewers, hosted by Brown University.

VC fell to Boston College 18-9 to start the afternoon, followed by a 18-9 loss to the Judges of Brandeis University. Vassar picked up its first conference victory with a 21-6 win over Tufts University, and evened their record an emphatic 21-6 win over Dartmouth College. The Brewers dropped a 17-10 decision to host Brown University later in the day, and finished action Saturday with a 20-7 loss to Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The Brewers were led by junior captain and sabre fencer Elam Coalson (River Forest, IL/Oak Park & River Forest), who finished the day with a team-best 10 wins, chalking up a winning record in four of the seven matches. Sabre partner Eli Polston (Silver Spring, MD/Einstein) also had eight wins for the Brewers as well. 

The epee team went 29-25 on the afternoon, paced by the 9-8 record from Ry Farley (Pasadena, CA/Waverly School) and George Whiteside (Fairfield, CT/Fairfield Ludlowe). Freshman Jonathan Alperstein (Fishkill, NY/John Jay) added eight wins as well, pushing his team-leading victory total to 50 wins on the season. 

Senior captain Tre Artis (Jamaica, NY/Benjamin Cardozo) topped the Vassar foil team with seven wins, while freshman Tom Racek (Clark's Summit, PA/Abington Heights) finished with a 6-4 record on the afternoon.

The Brewers travel to Drew University Saturday, January 31 for non-conference action.