POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (February 9, 2015) – The Vassar College men's fencing team looks to ride the momentum of Saturday's three wins at the Northeast Fencing Conference meet Tuesday, as the Brewers head into the Big Apple to take on No. 2 Columbia University and host New York University in non-conference fencing action.

Meet Details
Date: February 10, 2015
Meet: vs. New York University (9-9) & No. 2 Columbia University (11-5)
Links: (Vassar Men's Fencing Team Home Page) (Roster) (Schedule) (Statistics)
Site: New York, NY
Facility: Coles Sports Center - NYU
Time: 5 p.m. & 6 p.m.
 
What To Look For
The Brewers and Sacred Heart University will serve as warm-up opponents for the two squads from New York City, as the rivalry between NYU and Columbia will be the main event. That doesn't mean that the Brewers will not be formidable opponents, as Vassar College has one of the better epee groups in the Northeast Region. The Brewer epee group won 31 of its 36 matches on Saturday, posting a 6-3 record against Sacred Heart in Saturday's finale. If the Brewers can get some solid fencing from the epee and sabre teams, they could very well pull an upset Tuesday.
 
A Look At The Field
The Brewers will take on New York University in the opening match Tuesday night, and will face a Violet team that lost two NCAA qualifiers from last year's team. This year's version of the NYU squad has some solid fencers, including foil fencers Daniel Sconzo and Yash Srivastav, who lead the team with 33 wins. The epee group for the Violets is paced by John Cramerus and his 32 wins, while Hans Engel is right behind with 31 victories. The sabre group has struggled at times but Quinten Burgunder is 30-14, and was an NCAA Regional competitor last season.
 
The Columbia squad just finished action in the Ivy League Championships yesterday, sharing the title with rival Harvard University. It was the Lions 36^th fencing title on the men's side in the 60-year history of the championships. The men's epee team for the Lions has gone an impressive 93-51 this year before play in the Ivy League Championships. Junior Jake Hoyle has gone a very strong 21-9 this year in epee, finishing 15^th nationally last year in the weapon. Squad-mate Brian Ro also earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament last season, and junior sabre fencer Geoffrey Loss don't do much losing, as he is 20-10 and was seventh in the country last year.
 
Work Of Artis
Senior Tre Artis (Jamaica, NY/Benjamin Cardozo) has gone 52-38 this season, leading the foil team in wins. He has done well against some strong competition, including earning wins over Andrew Holmes and Alex Harwood of Sacred Heart Saturday.
 
Excellent Epee
This Brewers finished NFC action last week, and finished the season with three of the top 13 epee fencers in the conference. Vassar is one of only three schools to accomplish that feat, joining Brown University and SHU.
 
Freshman Phenom
Freshman epee fencer Jonathan Alperstein (Fishkill, NY/John Jay) has shown that he can compete with some of the best in the country. Saturday, he went 2-1 against Sacred Heart, taking down defending NCAA Northeast Regional Champion Jonathan Jacovino of SHU.
 
Sitting In Sixth
The Brewers finished sixth overall in the Northeast Fencing standings this season with five wins, one win behind Boston College for fifth place. Brandeis and Sacred Heart tied for the title with nine victories apiece.
 
Super Sub
Sabre freshman Eric Lee (Fishkill, NY/John Jay) has come in as a reserve recently and done well, going 5-0 in his last five bouts, as he was the only sabre fencer in the NFC to win all of his conference matches, albeit in just three bouts.
 
20/20
The Vassar College men's fencing team has earned 20 wins for the second straight season, which marks the first time ever in program history that the team has posted back-to-back 20-win campaigns.
 
Up Next
The Brewers will host the New England Intercollegiate Fencing Championships Saturday, February 21 in Walker Field House, with action starting at 8 a.m. in Poughkeepsie, NY.