Dec. 11, 2007

FAIRFIELD, CT - In their best performances of the season, the Pioneer men's fencing team lost a close, hard-fought match to Yale 15-12, but bounced back on Sunday at the Pitt Center to dominate Hunter College 25-2, Yeshiva 25-2 and NJIT 24-3. The team ended the fall semester part of the season with a 4-7 record.

"The Yale match was the closest that we have come to beating one of the Ivy League teams" commented head coach Dr. Tom Vrabel. "This match went well in to the last round before it was decided."

Leading the way for the Pioneers was freshman sensation Sean McGeveran (Brentwood, NY), who went 3-0 vs. Yale and 12-0 for the weekend.

"Since the Drew match Sean has gone 21-2, which is amazing for a fresman, considering that stretch of meets included Harvard, UPenn, Yale and Johns Hopkins," said Vrabel. "I look to Sean to just keep getting better and vie for a first team all NEFC league performance this year."

Also starring for the Pioneers last weekend were senior team captain and saberist Matt Laudicina (Selden,NY) (2-1 vs Yale, 10-1 overall) and junior foil squad captain Dan Convery-Zupan (Wellesley, MA) (2-1 vs Yale and 11-1 overall).

"It is great to see Matt healed sufficiently from a nagging hamstring injury so that he can be a force for us again" commented Vrabel. "After a three week break over the Christmas Holiday, Matt should be ready to consistently get us 2-3 wins per match, regardless of the competition."

Dan Convery-Zupan was also dominant last weekend, only losing one bout to Yale.

"Dan's overall record of 24-9 puts him in a strong position to compete for a berth to the NCAA Championships," said Dr. Vrabel. "I expect Dan to repeat his first team all NEFC performance from last year once league competition begins in January"

The team will be back in action on Sunday, January 13th at Temple University when they compete in the Philadelphia Invitational.