SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – For the third year in a row and the 29^th time in program history, the No. 4 MIT men's fencing team won the New England Intercollegiate Fencing Championship (NEIFC) team title on Sunday at Mount Holyoke College. The Engineers placed first in epee, second in foil, and third in sabre.
 
THE BASICS:

• Team Finish: 1^st of 16
• Epee: First Place with 28-11 record
• Foil: Second Place with 34-5 record
• Sabre: Third Place with 27-12 record

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Epee
  • Pool Round 1
    • MIT generated a 14-7 record as it defeated UNH (2-1), UConn (2-1), Tufts (3-0), Brown (2-1), and WPI (2-1) but fell to Vassar (1-2).
    • First-year Alec Zhang (Saratoga, Calif.) won six of his seven bouts, followed by sophomore Max Zhu (Diamond Bar, Calif.) with a 5-2 record. First-year Rishi Shiv (Houston, Texas) ended the round with a 3-4 total.
  • Pool Round 2
    • The Engineers generated a 14-4 record courtesy of victories against UMass (3-0), Sacred Heart (2-1), Northeastern (2-1), Brandeis (2-1), Vassar (3-0), and WPI (2-1).
    • Zhang and Shiv both went 5-1 while Zhu posted a 4-2 ledger.
• Foil
  • Pool Round 1
    • MIT won all 21 bouts as it defeated Brown, Tufts, Hamilton, WPI, UConn, Bowdoin, and Northeastern.
    • Juniors Tony Xiao (San Ramon, Calif.) and Henry Zhang (Scarsdale, N.Y.) as well as sophomore Andy Zhang (Suwanee, Ga.) each posted seven victories.
  • Pool Round 2
    • The Engineers generated a 13-5 record as they topped Brown (3-0), Vassar (3-0), Northeastern (2-1), and Tufts (3-0) but fell to Sacred Heart (1-2) and Brandeis (1-2).
    • Andy Zhang won all six bouts while Henry Zhang had a 4-2 record and Xiao went 3-3.
• Sabre
  • Pool Round 1
    • MIT generated a 17-4 record as it defeated Dartmouth (3-0), Northeastern (3-0), Sacred Heart (3-0), WPI (2-1), and UConn (3-0), but fell to Brown (3-0).
    • Junior Surya Sakhamuri (Sharon, Mass.) and first-year Eric Wang (Foothill Ranch, Calif.) both posted 6-1 marks.
    • Senior Henry Smith (Columbia Falls, Mont.) notched a 3-1 record while junior Brendon Murphy (Mount Dora, Fla.) went 2-1.
  • Pool Round 2
    • The Engineers finished with a 10-8 ledger as they posted wins over Sacred Heart (2-1), Brandeis (2-1), and Northeastern (3-0) but fell to Tufts (1-2), Brown (1-2), and Vassar (1-2).
    • Smith won three of his four bouts while Sakhamuri and Wang had 3-3 records.
    • Murphy ended the round with a 1-1 total.

UP NEXT:

• MIT travels to Tufts University for the NCAA Northeast Regional Championship on Sunday, March 9.

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