"They have so much experience," Chew said. "But they're still beatable, given the right drive."

Added Lindblom: "Columbia is one of the best teams in the country. [Playing them] makes us realize what we need to do to become one of the top teams on the national level."

On the women's side, the previously-undefeated Crimson (7-1, 0-1 Ivy) ended up on the losing side of several very close matches on Saturday.

Led by U.S. Olympic team alternate Erinn Smart, the Lions overtook the Crimson in the foil by a 7-2 mark. Smart went a perfect 3-0 in her three matches.

For the Crimson, junior Emily Katz won one tilt, and freshman Liz Blase prevailed in a 5-3 bout against highly-touted Columbia fencer Katie Cavan.

Harvard's other two wins came from freshman Sarah Park and sophomore Amy Bei in the epee and sabre, respectively.

"While we may have lost as a team, there were a lot of individual victories," junior co-captain Ellen Schulz said, referring specifically to Blase's win over Cavan. "Also, there were a lot of 5-4 [losing] bouts that were close but don't get reflected in the final score."