PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The University of Notre Dame fencing team continued their weekend going from New York to Philadelphia to participate in the Philadelphia Invitational. The Irish competed against Yale (18-9 & 14-13), New York University (NYU) (17-10 & 23-4), Columbia (15-12 & 18-9), Pennsylvania (15-12 & 16-11), and Princeton (20-7 & 8-19). This invitational included four teams who are ranked in the top-10 of the U.S Fencing Coaches Association; Columbia at number two, Princeton at number four, Pennsylvania at number seven, and Yale at number 10.
The match against Yale had lots of action as the Irish men saw Hunter Candreva, Nick Itkin, Andrew Machovec and Marcello Olivares all go 3-0. Yale led the match 4-0 but the Irish fought back and clinched the win at 14-9. The women had a hard fought match as well beating Yale 14-13. Victoria Tontcheva took down her opponent 5-3 in a final bout to win the match.
Notre Dame took down NYU in a dominating fashion as the women saw Anne Myler, Paige Luong, Atara Greenbaum, and Daria Kudriavtseva all go 3-0 to propel them to a 23-4 win. The story line was the same for the men against NYU as they took down Bobcats in a 17-10 fashion. Machovec and Olivares both went 3-0 in the match.
The Irish fought hard against #2 Columbia for the second time on the weekend. The men won 15-12 and the women 18-9. The women had Miriam Grady, Kaylin Sin Yan Hsieh, Jadeyn Williams, and Amita Berthier all go 3-0 during the match. The epee team finished with a 7-2 record, foil with a 6-3 record and sabre with a 5-4 record. The men’s team dominated their win with their foil team collecting a winning 6-3 record. The sabre team collected a 5-4 record and the epee team a 4-5 record.
George Bivins and Paige Luong collected 3-0 bouts in the match against Pennsylvania. The men took down Pennsylvania 15-12 and the women 16-11. The match against Princeton was a win for the Irish men 20-7, but the women fell 8-19 to the nationally ranked Tigers. Bivins, Itkin, Olivares, and Machovec all took home 3-0 bouts in the match. The men came from a 6-6 tie with Princeton and took 14 of the last 15, including 10 final bouts, to take the 20-7 win.
The Irish return to action when they host the Decicco Duals on January 29 and January 30, 2022.