W. fencing beats Temple in final foil matches

Jabs, thrusts, tight outfits and great performances could be found in more places than just Cottage this weekend. The women's fencing team erased the memories of last week's mediocre efforts with resounding wins against Cornell, Farleigh Dickinson, Temple and James Madison.

"En guarde" against the chances of another Ivy League loss and playing with renewed focus, Princeton's (9-3) victory over Cornell now brings its league record to an even 1-1 and puts the Tigers in a better position for the rest of their Ivy schedule.

The women handed Cornell a devastating defeat with their 20-6 victory. Their dominance continued against FDU and James Madison, whom they defeated 21-6 and 26-1, respectively.

"Cornell was a great meet," said senior captain Mindy Rostal. "It's our second Ivy so it was important to win. We have to work hard to beat all the rest of the Ivy teams although I am confident it is something we should be able to do."

Even with continued success in the Ivy League, the fate of women's fencing will rest primarily on the hope that Penn defeats Columbia, thereby giving the Tigers a share of this year's Ivy crown.

"We really haven't seen what Penn is capable of," assistant coach Ben Hardt said. "But Columbia has defeated Yale and all the other real Ivy League contenders, and we still have to defeat Penn as well."

While the Tigers had little difficulty with the swordplay against Cornell, James Madison and Farleigh Dickinson, it would be the Temple-Princeton contest that would be the story of the day.

With one of the nation's strongest sabre squads, Temple is a national contender. Though they eventually defeated the Owls, 15-12, the Tigers needed all the weapons in their arsenal for this achievement.

"Temple was by far the hardest team we fenced, and actually it was a bit scary," Rostal said. "The match got really close at the end and we were not sure if we could pull out the win. I knew we had the epee, but Temple's win in sabre made the final bouts in foil so important."

Rostal and the Tigers certainly had every right to be scared, as a tenuous 13-12 lead seemed doomed to crumble. Freshman foil Jacqueline Leahy and freshman epee Eleanor Leighton were simultaneously losing the final two bouts of the day, putting the thin Princeton lead into grave danger. With Leighton down, 4-1, and Leahy down, 4-2, the Tigers would need one win out of the two to secure victory.

"It looked grim," remembered Rostal as she and her teammates stood on the sidelines.

Leahy and Leighton, both two-time members of the Cadet World Championship team, would provide more than needed — both pulling off final round victories of 5-4. Freshman Catherine Pack also had an outstanding day, going 8-1 for the meet.

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Leahy and Rostal both remained undefeated for the day. Rostal, an All-Ivy and All-American athlete, is ranked as one of the top 10 female fencers in the nation and continues to provide both encouragement and results for a predominantly underclassmen team.

While the women's chances of an Ivy League title this year are at best tenuous, they seem to have fallen into a rhythm of victory and success.