The Brandeis fencing team faced one of their toughest competitors Wednesday at Gosman, as both the men's and women's teams fell to Harvard University. Coming off a match against the University of Pennsylvania that was held at a neutral site (MIT), the Crimson gradually overwhelmed the Judges, capturing both matchups by an identical 19-8 score."The Harvard meet decided the Northeast League Championship," said men's captain Steve Zuilkowski '03. "The men's team was ready for a difficult night against a Division I school, and faired well against them. Although we lost this meet, we finished in second place in the Northeast League, which is an improvement over last year's fourth place finish."

Against Harvard the men took the Foil weapon by a final 5-4 tally, as Benji Rostoker '05 triumphed in all his hotly-contested bouts. "When the chips are down, he's a big-game player," Zuilkowski said. In March, the Judges will head for the IFA tournament at Boston College where the foil, epee, and sabre teams will each compete independently as squads against other college squads."

"In years past, (the Foil squad) has fallen in the middle of all 13 teams, but this year I expect us to place in the top-five in foil," Zuilkowski said.

The men's Epee weapon came out victorious in just one of nine bouts against Harvard. And while the men's Sabre team lost 7-2, the team had reason to celebrate when Jeremy Simpson '06 beat one of Harvard's nationally- ranked Sabre fencers.

The women had a similar day against Division I Harvard. Despite an 8-1 loss in Foil, Meredith Freedman '05 went 3-0. In the Epee category, the Judges went 3-6 overall, while in the Sabre the women competed in some extremely close bouts, ultimately losing by a 5-4 margin.

This season, the Brandeis men are 13-5 with wins over Boston University and Duke University. Brandeis hosts the UAAs this weekend at Gosman, where the women are expected to repeat as conference champions.