Men's fencing beats Rutgers, falls to Columbia, St. John's

The men's and women's fencing team each had three meets over Intersession. Both took on squads from St. John's, instate rival Rutgers, and Ivy League foe Columbia during the week off.

The women went 2-1 for the week, securing wins over Rutgers and No. 7 St. John's. But the Tigers fell to No. 4 Columbia, 16-11, at the Lions' Homecoming. Last year, the women beat Rutgers and lost to St. John's and Columbia.

The men topped to Scarlet Knights in a 14-13 squeaker. But they also lost to both No. 5 Columbia, 18-9, and No. 3 St. John's, 15-12, a repeat of last year's 1-2 finish against the same three teams.

The statistics lined up interestingly on the women's side. Each individual Tiger event ran up a 2-1 record to match the team mark.

Women's foil won 5-4 over St. John's and 8-1 over Rutgers while losing a 5-4 heartbreaker to Columbia. Sabre won two 5-4 decisions, against Columbia and Rutgers, while the Red Storm sabres topped Princeton, 7-2.

In epee, the Tigers captured 8-1 and 6-3 wins against St. John's and Rutgers, respectively. The squad's lone blemish came in a 7-2 thumping at the hands of Columbia.

On the men's side, the scoring distribution was less even. The foil squad won all its matches, showing promise for the team's overall outlook for the rest of the year. They topped both Columbia and St. John's by a 5-4 margin, while dominating Rutgers, 8-1.

The sabre squad recorded a 1-2 record, scoring a 5-4 victory over Rutgers. In their bout with the Red Storm, the Tigers lost, 6-3. Against the Lions, however, Princeton was unable to acheive a single win, losing 9-0.

In epee, Princeton suffered two agonizing 5-4 losses. Both the Lions and the Red Storm managed to edge out the Tigers, though the Scarlet Knights still fell 6-3.

The Red Storm's men's fencing team defeated all three of their opponents for the weekend keeping steady their No. 3 ranking in the polls. This is the first time in five years that the Red Storm has had a perfect 12-0 season. The St. John's men had recently defeated No. 1 Notre Dame, 18-9.

The Red Storm's women's team's lone win came against Rutgers, while losing to both Princeton and Columbia, closing out their season, 8-4.

For Columbia, the men's squad outperformed Rutgers and Princeton in every category but were unable to carry the momentum of these wins into their bout with St. John's. The Red Storm won in every match-up.

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The Lady Lions were without their top sabre fencer, Emma Barattaas. Barattaas was out because she was competing in the Junior World Cup in Spain. The Tigers won 5-4 in sabre but lost 4-5 in foil. Columbia managed to break the tie with a 7-2 decision in epee.

Against Rutgers, the Lions had little difficulty, winning 21-6. Against St. Johns, the Columbia women lost foil and sabre, 4-5, but were again able to make up the difference with a remarkable three 9-0 victories in epee to win the match.

Both Tiger teams will next travel to Ithaca, NY to take on three more opponents next Saturday. Princeton will face Fairleigh Dickinson, Cornell and James Madison.