The New York University men's fencing squad won two of seven matches at the MIT Invitational on Sunday, February 6, in Cambridge, MA.

Following the Invitational matches, the Violets now possess a record of 6-14 in 2010-11.

NYU faced five excellent fencing programs, all of which received votes in the latest USFCA men's fencing poll.  The slate of teams in action on Sunday included #4-ranked Penn State University, #7 University of Pennsylvania and #9-ranked Duke University. Brandeis University, Brown University, and the host school, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, also earned votes in the Coaches Poll.

The Violets opened against Duke, losing to the Blue Devils by a score of 18-9.

In round two, NYU knocked off MIT, 15-12, as the foil team led the way, 8-1 against the Engineers.  The Violets won their third-round match as well, upending Brandeis, 17-10. NYU dominated in foil again, at 8-1, and the epee squad was 6-3.

In the fourth round, Penn State proved worthy of its ranking, as the Violets lost to the Nittany Lions, 21-6.  NYU dropped its fifth, sixth and seventh round matches as well, 20-7, against Penn, 16-11 vs. Brown, and 15-12 vs. Boston College.

Several Violet fencers displayed tremendous skill throughout the Invitational.  On the foil team, three fencers tallied more bout victories than losses. Philip Jamesson finished 14-2, while Christian Vastola was 12-6 and captain Oung-Jo Yuh went 6-9.  Overall, against Penn State, Duke, Brandeis, Brown, Boston College and MIT, five impressive foes, the foil team was 33-21.

In epee, Byron Neslund went 13-7, while Ricky Woodward was 9-10.

Following the MIT Invitational, NYU will return home on Feb. 9 against traditional foes Columbia University, Sacred Heart University and Vassar College at the Coles Sports Center.