The men’s fencing team has lost only two matches in their last two tournaments, and this success continued this past Saturday in Durham, North Carolina, at the Duke Invitational as they went 5-0. This performance was highlighted by a defeat of the 10th-ranked Duke University Blue Devils.
Brandeis began strong against the host school, leading 10-1 in epee and foil. Julian Cardillo ’14, Noah Berman ’15 and Ethan Levy ’14 were 8-1 in the foil against Duke. The Blue Devils made a push for a comeback, winning the first four saber bouts to be 12-9. Adam Mandel ’15 went 5-2 to bring the team within one win of clinching victory, and Jess Ochs-Willard ’15 brought home the victory for Brandeis. The final score was 15-12. Prior to the tournament, Duke was 15-5 after defeating third-ranked Notre Dame University and ninth-ranked Stanford University last weekend. This is Brandeis’ first defeat of Duke since 2006 and the Blue Devils’ only loss of the tournament.
Team captain Cardillo said, “There was so much energy in the room because it was a Duke home meet. They got loud, and we were all cheering on our end as well. It was really intense.”
The Judges also beat Johns Hopkins University 18-9, the University of North Carolina 17-10, the Air Force Academy 17-10 and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 16-11. Cardillo and Ari Feingersch ’16 each won their three bouts against MIT.
Brandeis’ coach Bill Shipman said, “We started off well against Hopkins, and our momentum built through the UNC meet, who we had not beaten recently. We took a big early lead against Duke. Clearly they would come back, but we held them off in saber for the win.”
Though there were many successful fencers for Brandeis, the team was led by Cardillo, who was 15-0 in foil. Mandel won all six bouts against UNC and Air Force.
After going 11-1 in their last two meets, the women’s team had a tough outing in the Tar Heel State, losing three of five matches. The competition started on a low note for them as they lost to eighth-ranked Temple University 23-4. They rebounded with a 15-12 defeat over Air Force. Sonya Glickman ’16 won three bouts in epee, giving the squad the 6-3 lead necessary to carry the team to victory. The team continued with a 14-13 win against MIT. The foil squad led the way at 8-1 against MIT, with three wins apiece by foilists Caroline Mattos ’16 and Vikki Nunley ’14. They could not defeat the home state teams though, losing to UNC 17-10 and Duke 18-9. Mattos won three bouts against each opponent, finishing 13-2 for the day.
Both the men’s and women’s team’s finished 2-1 in this week’s Beanpot Tournament. Harvard University’s team’s won each group while Brandeis’ finished in second ahead of Boston College and MIT. The men easily defeated MIT and BC 18-9. They swept the Eagles in all weapons. Harvard defeated the Judges sixth-ranked Harvard 17-10. The epee squad defeated the Crimson 5-4, with two wins apiece by Tom Hearne ’16 and Justin Kwon ’16. Brandeis lost to Harvard 7-2 in foil and 6-3 in saber. Hearne, Kwon and Berman each had six victories in the Beanpot. Despite losing to Harvard, Brandeis came much closer than the other teams. The Crimson defeated BC 26-1 and MIT 20-7.
The women’s team defeated BC and MIT as well but only by a close margin at 14-13. Mattos won all three of her matches against the Eagles to be 15-4. Against BC the foil squad triumphed, winning 7-2. The Judges lost to Harvard 22-5. Glickman was the sole Brandeisian with multiple wins against the third-ranked team in the country. The Crimsons’ foil squad was 26-1. Both Harvard teams have won the Beanpot Tournament each year since its inception.
The Brandeis teams continue their winning streak against BC and MIT. At the conclusion of the dual-meet part of the season, the men are 21-7 and the women are 22-10. The teams will head to Mount Holyoke College for the New England Collegiate Championships and Princeton the following day for the US Squad Competition.
