Feb. 23, 2004

EASTON, Pa. (www.lafayette.edu) - The Lafayette fencers defeated St. John's, 19-8, but fell to Johns Hopkins and Cornell in a quad meet on Saturday.

Johns Hopkins posted a 22-5 win over the Leopards, while Cornell used a 6-3 advantage in epee to escape with a 14-13 victory.

Four Leopards posted 3-0 marks in the win over St. John's: Mark Lodato (Hamilton, N.J./Steinert) in foil, Dave Watrous (Belle Mead, N.J./Whitefield Academy) in epee and Tom Gauntner (Allentown, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic) and Andrew Thomas (Vienna, Va./James Madison) in sabre.

Gaunter had the best individual day for Lafayette, posting a 7-2 record over the three matches.

Lafayette won both the foil and sabre by 5-4 scores over Cornell, but the Big Red's 6-3 advantage in epee was the difference. Brendan O'Dea (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) was 3-0 in foil against Cornell.

Lafayette is back in action on Sunday, traveling to Blacksburg, Va. for the MACFA Championships.