NORTHAMPTON, MA (February 10, 2018) – The Vassar College men's fencing team finished its 2017-18 Northeast Fencing Conference (NFC) schedule on Saturday afternoon, going undefeated in five matches in action from the Indoor Track and Tennis Center on the campus of Smith College.
 
The Brewers breezed by the University of New Hampshire to start the day's action, and followed that with wins over Dartmouth College (17-10) and Boston University (22-5). The toughest match of the day came against rival Sacred Heart University, as Vassar pulled a thrilling 14-13 win, finished up with a 21-6 romp over the University of Massachusetts.
 
With the five wins, the Brewers finished in fourth place with seven team wins, one behind Boston College and MIT for second place in the standings. Brandeis University claimed the men's conference NFC championship with 10 wins on the season.
 
The Brewers rolled past the Wildcats of UNH to start the day, as both the foil and sabre teams were 8-1 while the epee squad picked up all nine bouts. In foil, senior Tom Racek was 3-0, as was freshman Adlai Brandt-Ogman, while Michael Skolnick added a pair of wins. The sabre team saw freshman Evin Heintz and senior Eli Polston each go undefeated, while Jonathan Alperstein was 3-0 in epee for VC.
 
In round three, Vassar picked up the 17-10 win over Dartmouth, as all three squads earned victories. The foil team captured a 6-3 win after three more wins from Racek and two from Brandt-Ogman, while the epee team saw freshman Michael Jaklitsch go 3-0 in a 5-4 win. In sabre, Polston again was perfect with a 3-0 record while Heintz added two more victories.
 
Vassar would cruise by Boston University with 22 bout wins, including a 9-0 outcome in sabre, as Heintz and Polston were each 3-0 with Eric Lee adding a 2-0 mark as well. In epee, Jaklitsch was 2-0 and senior Daniel Swerzenski also chipped in with two tight 5-4 wins. The foil team saw Racek up his mark to 9-0 on the day with three more wins, and Brandt-Ogman was 2-0 as well before being subbed out.
 
In the tightest round of the day, Vassar's sabre team would be the heroes, going 9-0 to erase an 8-1 squad win for the Pioneers in foil to earn the win. The trio of Lee, Polston and Heintz swept all three rounds, with seven of the nine bouts seeing VC hold SHU to two or fewer touches. Vassar's epee team fell 5-4, but won the first four bouts of the round, including two from Alperstein to help VC to the team win.
 
The final round was all Vassar, as it again saw the sabre team dominate with an 8-1 mark, as Polston was 3-0 with Heintz adding two victories and Nicholas Williams coming in to earn a 5-1 win as well. In foil, Racek went 3-0 to help the foil team to a 6-3 triumph, while Alperstein and Jaklitsch each added two epee wins for the Brewers against the Minutemen.
 
Vassar will now head to New York City Wednesday, February 14 at 6 p.m. to take on No. 4 Columbia University and No. 9 New York University in the Historical Meet at Columbia's Blue Gym.