(Fairfield, CT) - Sophomore Adam James Friedman (Ellington, CT/Ellington HS) won three bouts, and the YU Epee and Sabre teams won their portions of the competition, but the Yeshiva University Men's Fencing team lost a 16-11 thriller to the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) on Sunday, Dec. 9 at the Sacred Heart University Tournament in Fairfield, CT. After losing 25-2 to the host Pioneers, Yeshiva is now 3-7 heading into the intersession break.

Yeshiva stormed out to a 10-8 lead against NJIT after Epee and Sabre as senior Perry Fox (Elizabeth, NJ/KYHS) and sophomore Michael Young (Baltimore, MD/Yeshiva Rambam of Baltimore) won two bouts apiece, and senior Steven Lerner (Montreal, Canada/Academie Hebraique) won a bout for a 5-4 win in Epee. Friedman was the story at Sabre, winning three times, and sophomore Morgan Barany (Hollywood, FL/Hillel) won twice to give the Maccabees a 5-4 win at Sabre.

With Yeshiva needing to win four out off nine bouts at Foil to clinch the match, NJIT rallied for an 8-1 win in the competition to claim the team victory. Yeshiva's lone Foil win was a 5-2 victory by sophomore Justin Shemesh (Staten Island, NY/Yeshiva Flatbush) during the second round of competition.

Yeshiva's match against Sacred Heart proved to be a difficult challenge against an outstanding Division I opponent with the Maccabees' two wins coming in Epee and Sabre. In Epee, Lerner scored a 5-3 win during the final round of bouts, while YU's Sabre win was notched by junior Jason Wininger (East Brunswick, NJ/Hun School).

Yeshiva will now have a six-week break between competitions as the Maccabees will next compete on Jan. 27, 2008 when they travel to the Johns Hopkins University Invitational in Baltimore, MD.