PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The Notre Dame fencing team had another successful day as they competed at the 2023 Philadelphia Invitational hosted by the University of Pennsylvania. Multiple fencers finished matches with 3-0 records to help the Irish to their wins. Both the men’s and women’s team finished 4-1 on the day.
The men’s team kicked things off taking on the Yale Bulldogs, and taking the win 18–9. All three weapon groups took a 6-3 record for the match, with Jonathan Hamilton-Meikle and Phillip Dority tallying 3-0 records. Foil jumped out ahead of the Bulldogs taking the immediate lead 3-1 with wins coming from Hans Yoong, Marcello Olivares and Dority. Once they got in front, the Irish didn’t look back taking the foil group win. Epee took a confident win as well when bout wins from Maruan Osman-Touson, Noah Silvers, and Hamilton-Meikle. This group took four straight bout wins to claim the match. Saber commanded a win claiming five straight bout wins from George Bivins, Sean Moon, and Grant Dodrill.
The women’s team took on the Yale Bulldogs, put up a fight, but ultimately fell 13-14. Amanda Pirkowski led the women with a 3-0 record in the match. Foil collected wins from Jane Caulfield, and Josephina Conway. Epee took their match win with victories from Pirkowski, Miriam Grady, and Eszter Muhari. They sealed their victory after taking the first three bouts. Saber fell to Yale in a close 4-5 matchup. Kaitlyn Hulseburg, Neve Harrison, and Atara Greenbaum put up wins to stay in the fight the entire match. It wasn’t until the last few bouts that Yale pulled away.
The second round of the day for the Irish had them up against Princeton. The men’s team fell to Princeton 11-16 but saw a 3-0 performance from Noah Silvers. The women’s team won 16-11 against the Tigers, with a 3-0 record from Kaylin Hsieh. Epee and Saber went 6-3 in the match with foil falling to the Tigers, 4-5. Foil had wins from Amita Berthier and Nicole Pustilnik. Epee took the win when they jumped out in front of the Tigers with two immediate bout victories from Pirkwoski and Hsieh. Four straight bout victories from Grady, Hsieh, and Pirkowski sealed the win for the Irish. Saber won six straight bouts towards the end of the match to claim the victory with wins from Jadeyn Williams, Kara Linder, and Greenbaum.
The Irish met up with St. John’s again this weekend where both the men’s and women’s team defeated the Thunderbirds, 20-7 and 19-8, respectively. The women’s team saw two 3-0 records during the match from Muhari and Greenbaum while the men’s team had Silvers, Osman, Olivares, Bivins all go 3-0. The women saw a close match up in foil and ultimately took the win 5-4 with wins from Conway, Paige Luong, and Caulfield. Epee had a commanding win with a 7-2 record. Grady, Sedna Gandhi, and Muhari all helped the Irish to their win. Sabre also finished with a 7-2 record from wins from Harrison, Greenbaum, and Hulseburg.
The men’s team commanded their win by only allowing seven bout wins from St. John’s. Foil took the win with help from Yoong, Olivares, and Jack Oursler. Epee dominated with wins from Silvers, Osman, and Hamilton-Meikle only allowing one bout defeat. Sabre was a closer matchup with a final record of 5-4. Bivins collected the first point for the Irish, and then Luke Linder collected two more wins to help them win the match.
The fourth round of the day was the Irish taking on the hosts, the University of Pennsylvania. Both the men’s and women’s teams picked up another win, 17-10 and 19-8, respectively. Men’s foil had a close match against the Quakers. Olivares got the Irish on the board, Dority tied things up, and then Olivares put the Irish in front on his second bout of the match. Yoong closed out the match with a victory on the last bout to give the Irish the win 5-4. Epee won out with a 9-0 finish from Silvers, Hamilton-Meikle, and Nick Candela. Saber ultimately fell to the University of Pennsylvania, 3-6. Silvers, Hamilton-Meikle, Candela all finished the match with 3-0 records.
The women’s team picked up a close match up against the Quakers, 5-4, with foil wins from Pustilink, Berthier, and Rebecca Candescu. Epee had a dominating 7-2 win with Grady, Hsieh and Pirkwoski all collecting wins. Saber also finished with a dominating 7-2 win after Harrison, Greenbaum, and Hulseberg took bout wins. Hsieh, Berthier, Greenbaum all 3-0 in the match.
In the final match of the day, the women’s team took on Columbia for the second time this weekend and the men’s team took on New York University. The women’s team saw Muhari and Caulfield finish with 3-0 records. Epee finished with a 5-4 win, foil won 5-4, and saber fell 3-6. The Irish ultimately fell to the Lions by one bout in a 13-14 finish. The men’s team took a victory over NYU, 17-10. Osman and Hamilton-Meikle finished with 3-0 records in the match. Epee took a commanding 8-1 win with Silvers, Osman, and Hamilton-Meikle winning seven straight bouts. Foil won in a close match with the Irish taking the 5-4 win. Jason Zhao, Oursler, and Dority made a come from behind victory happen. Saber fell to NYU in close 4-5 loss. Bivins, Lacaze and Dodrill all tallied points for the Irish.
Silvers finished the day with an impressive 13-2 record, along with Osman and Hamilton-Meikle finishing with 10-2 and 12-3 records, respectively. Olivares posted a 9-3 record on the day. On the women’s side Hsieh finished with an 7-2 record, and Muhari finished with an 8-1 record. Berthier finished with an unblemished 6-0 record on the day. Caulfield tallied a 7-2 record and Greenbaum posted a 11-4 finish.
The Irish return to action on January 28 and January 20 when they host the DeCicco Duals at the Joyce Center at Notre Dame.