This past weekend, crowds of people in Boston, Mass., were entertained for a couple of hours by weapons and bodies flying through the air. And no, they weren't watching the Oscar-winning movie The Departed.
The spectators were there to cheer on the fencers competing in the second half of the Ivy League Tournament, the Ivy "North" competition. The men sought to build on their strong result from two weeks ago when they finished the Ivy "South" tournament, 2-1, while the women looked to gain momentum after a rocky 1-2 start.
Tigers squeak by Bulldogs
The men (9-5 overall, 4-2 Ivy League) started off the day in second place with a record of 2-1, trailing Columbia by just one point. The day started with a bang when the Tigers took on their top rival in the first competition of the day. Unfortunately, they were soundly defeated by Columbia, 6-21. Sabre was swept with a score of 0-9, while foil lost by the less dominating score of 3-6, with junior Douglas Hohensee leading the squad with a 2-1 result and senior Alejandro Bras tallying one win. Epee also fell by a margin of 3-6 with brothers freshman Edward Hurme and junior Tommi Hurme both finishing with records of 1-2.
In their second and final matchup of the day, the Tigers took on Yale and came out on top in a nail-biter. Sabre started off the competition with a 5-4 win, bouncing back from its sweep earlier in the day. Freshman Thomas Abend was impressive, posting a perfect 3-0 record.
Foil barely lost their squad match-up by a score of 4-5. Hohensee led the men with two victories, and both senior J.P. Mitchell and Bras were able to get one victory off their three opponents.
With the Tigers and Bulldogs tied after the foil and sabre bouts, it all came down to the epee competition, and they finished with a thrilling victory of 5-4. Edward Hurme and sophomore Noah Arjomand were the stars with two victories apiece.
At the end of the day, Princeton finished with a 3-2 record in the Ivy League Tournament, capturing third place (along with Penn). Harvard and Columbia tied for first place, both with records of 4-1.
"Overall, we had a very successful season in a very difficult transitional period for us," said team captain Bras. "I give a lot of credit to the team for sticking together in a tough time when policies were being changed, people were leaving and the coach was getting settled."
Women drop two
The women began the day against top-seeded Columbia. Unfortunately, the Tigers couldn't muster up the magic to pull an upset and ended up falling to the Lions, 11-16.
Sabre fell, 1-8, with sophomore Anastasia Dubov being the only fencer to take a bout from Columbia. Foil made it a much closer competition, barely losing with a score of 4-5. Freshman Jocelyn Svengsouk led the way with a record of 2-1, and senior Sara Jew-Lim and fellow freshman Karen Petsche followed with the scores of 1-2.
Perhaps epee fed off the momentum gained by their foil teammates because they were able to capture the victory against the opposing squad 6-3. Sophomore Jasjit Bhinder dominated her opponents, and didn't drop a bout in her 3-0 run. Freshman Chandler Clay finished right behind her with a score of 2-1.
Even though Princeton began the day with a loss, the team felt like it had started on a good note.
"I think most of the girls fenced well," said captain Jew-Lim.
The women didn't have much time to reflect, as they had to face Yale almost immediately. The Bulldogs took no mercy on the Tigers and dispatched them with a 8-19 loss.
Sabre again suffered a disappointing 1-8 defeat. Junior Cara DiGirolamo was the lone Tiger to tally a win, as both sophomore Jessica Fields and Dubov finished with records of 0-3. Foil was able to reverse its decision with a 5-4 victory over Yale. Svengsouk led the way with a record of 2-1, and both Jew-Lim and Petsche finished at a respectable 1-2. Epee was not true to their winning form and fell by a score of 6-3, with McGarry taking the top spot on the team at 2-1.
To round out the matchups of the day, Princeton faced Cornell and tallied its first victory of the day, for which the official score was unavailable. While it may have been easy to be pessimistic about losing the first two matches, the women's team took a positive outlook.
"Columbia went on to win Ivies," said captain Jew-Lim. "So even though we lost, I think it says something that we were able to get some tough victories against some of their strongest fencers."
The men and women will regroup this week for the IFA Championships next weekend in Lawrenceville, N.J.
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