In the final conference meet of the season, the Northeast Conference Meet, the men's and women's fencing teams each won three of four matches, each earning a second-place finish in the conference. The men defeated Boston College 22-5, Dartmouth University 20-7 and Brown University 18-9, but lost to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 15-12. The women fell one bout short of an undefeated day, losing to Brown 14-13 after victories over Boston College 18-9, MIT 17-10 and Dartmouth 20-7. The men's overall record now stands at 9-4 with a 7-1 conference record, while the women moved to 11-5 and 9-1 in the conference after an 18-9 victory at Wellesley College Friday. The women had a chance to become No. 1 in the conference in the last match of the day but lost a close match to Brown. The Judges trailed 13-12 when foilist Hannah Rosen '08 lost a close bout by one touch to clinch the conference championship for the Bears.

"I thought we fenced well, and with a little luck or a call here or there, I think we would have won this conference," coach Bill Shipman said.

Prior to the final match, the women faced little trouble disposing of Boston College, Dartmouth and MIT.

"Throughout the whole day, everyone gave it their all," captain Deb Model '06 said. "Everyone is improving, stepping up and fighting for each touch in each bout."

The foil team led the way for the Judges, winning 30 of 36 overall bouts, including eight of nine against the Bears. The team was without the services of Stephanie Aucoin '08, who was unable to compete due to mononucleosis. However, the team of Rosen, Jess-Davis Heim '09, Tess Woehrlen '09, Jessie Newhall '09, and Chantal Dewey '07 all picked up the slack.

"The foil team is definitely one of our more talented groups and I'm proud of [their fencing], but at this point, I don't expect anything less from them," Liesse Marie-Slemon '07 said.

The men's team also had a chance to win the conference championship, but gave up the title when it fell to MIT in the third match of the day. The foil team of Will Friedman '09, J.D. Carroll '09 and Eugene Vortsman '08 won the majority of its bouts against the Beavers, but the Beavers won on the strength of their épée and saber teams.

Last year's NCAA Championship participant and épéeist Kai Keller '07 returned from a semester abroad in Hong Kong to compete in his first meet of the season.

"It really feels good to be back," Keller said. "It was a really good feeling to be on the strip again and to practice every day."

However, Keller said he was not happy with the results of the meet.

"I would say it was very disappointing," Keller said. "We clearly had the goal of winning, and we can win against [MIT], but it didn't happen."

Keller also said that he was surprised by the fencing style of the MIT épéeists.

"Epee is normally a defensive weapon, but [MIT epeeists] fence in a very fast style," Keller said. "They attack a lot, and that surprised us a little bit."

The men rebounded from their loss to MIT by defeating Brown easily, avenging an earlier loss in the Brandeis Invitational on December 4. On the day, the foil team of Friedman, Carroll and Vortsman led the Judges with a 28-8 overall record.

"We wanted a little retribution on Brown for beating us last time," Shipman said. "We wanted to prove ourselves and we did."

On Friday, the women's team easily defeated the Wellesley Blue 18-9. The foil team posted an undefeated record to lead the way for the Judges. Slemon and Kirsten Heinz '09 also had undefeated records in saber.

"We annihilated Wellesley," Slemon said. "Despite how good they've gotten, we've got it more. Nothing that Wellesley could have handed us last night was something we couldn't have defeated."

The Judges now enter a difficult portion of their schedule. The team will play host to Penn State University, Tufts University, Yeshiva University, Haverford College, New York University and Sacred Heart College at the Brandeis Invitational next Saturday. Following that meet, the team travels to Durham, North Carolina to fence in the Duke Invitational on Feb. 10.