PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The Vassar College men's fencing team opened Northeast Fencing Conference action Saturday afternoon at Brown University, as the Brewers posted two dual meet wins over the University of Rhode Island and Tufts University.

After dropping the opening bout 18-9 to MIT, Vassar took the 20-7 victory over Tufts. The Brewers fell in the next three matches to Boston College (22-5), Brandeis (19-8) and Brown (17-10), but finished the day with a 24-3 win over Rhode Island.

Foil performed the strongest throughout the day, posting a 28-26 record. Epee went 26-28, while sabre was 22-32.

In the first round against MIT, foil fell 7-2 and epee dropped the 5-4 decision. Graeme Mills (Boston, MA) performed well, going 3-0 in the sabre over the Engineers. The Brewers bounced back in the second round against Tufts with foil and epee winning 8-1. Sabre fell 5-4 to the Jumbos. Senior Michael Skolnick (South Setauket, NY) posted three wins and Caleb Klein (Chappaqua, NY) and Adlai Brandt-Ogman (South Salem, NY) each had two in the foil. In the epee, both Michael Jaklitsch (Saint James, NY) and Nishay Bhatnagar (Livingston, NJ) went 3-0, while Chris Gaehde (Brookline, MA) tallied two wins.

Boston College was a tough opponent in the third round. Brandt-Ogman managed to get two wins to lead the foil. BC then won epee 7-2 and swept sabre 9-0.

Vassar struggled against Brandeis the following round, led by three wins from Jaklitsch in the epee. Bhatnagar and Gaehde picked up two wins. The Brewers fell to host Brown, but kept the competition close with 5-4 losses in foil and sabre. Noe Berger (Brooklyn, NY) went 2-1 in the foil, while Mills went 3-0 in sabre.

In the final round, Vassar finished strong by defeating Rhode Island. The Brewers won 8-1 in foil, 7-2 in epee and 9-0 in sabre. Klein had a 3-0 sweep in foil, and Gaehde tabbed another two wins. Sean Yang (Vestal, NY) saw some action in epee, going for the 3-0 sweep. Bhatnager performed well, taking two victories. Chase Estes (Naples, FL), Thomas Dadoly (Georgetown, TX) and Mills all went 3-0 in the sabre against the Rams.

Vassar travels to New Haven, CT next to face Yale on Sat. Feb. 2. Matches are set to start at noon.