Harvard's varsity fencing team lost its first Ivy League contest Saturday when it was edged 14-13 by a sharp Princeton squard.

The Crimson took the foil competition 7-2 and the saber matches 6-3, but got sliced up 0-9 in the epee competition, which coach Edo Marion called "pathetic and ridiculous."

Despite a crucial first bout loss by freshman Jean Vastola, the foil team cut their opponents down to size as captain Phillipe Bennett '76, one of the nation's top college fencers, and John Major '77 both swept all three of their duels. Vestola took only one of his three bouts.

Bennett said the foil squad has a good chance of winning this year's "Iron Man" trophy for the best college foil team in the East.

The saber team also looked strong against the Princeton duelers.

Nick Tepe '76 nailed down all three of his contests while Larry Tu '76, whose fencing helped him win a Rhodes Scholarship recently, slashed his way to victory in two of his three bouts.

John Chipman '77, however, could salvage only one victory in three saber contests.

The epee team came up on the dull side against a tough Princeton squad which Bennett called "probably the strongest in the country."

Matt Simmons, Eric Read, and John Hirschfeld were all unable to drive through to victory.

The fencing team as a whole is 0-1 in the Ivies and 4-2 overall. They square off against Cornell Saturday in what Bennett described as their most important match of the season.