Feb. 1, 2004
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The top-ranked Notre Dame men’s and women’s fencing teams each completed a 10-0 weekend at the Notre Dame Collegiate Duals, with both squads posting wins Sunday over Cal State Fullerton, Lawrence, Northwestern, Detroit and Wayne State. The marquee matchup of the day saw the unbeaten Irish women register a convincing 18-9 win over 5th-ranked Northwestern.
The Notre Dame women (20-0) jumped out to a 5-0 lead on the Wildcats in Sunday’s matchup before putting the match away with six straight wins that yielded a 13-3 lead. The Irish women now own seven wins over top-10 opponents, including an earlier 15-12 victory over the Wildcats at the Northwestern Duals in mid-November (plus other wins over No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Penn State, No. 4 Columbia-Barnard, No. 7 St. John’s and No. 10 Temple).
The Notre Dame men (18-1) completed a strong weekend while bouncing back from last week’s loss that ended the third-longest winning streak in the program’s history (90 regular-season matches). The Irish women now own one of the top winning streaks in their program’s history, beating 34 straight opponents for the fifth-longest streak in the Notre Dame record book (dating back to a 16-11 loss to Penn State at the 2002 ND Duals). The team will have chance to move up that list at the final regular-season event, the West vs. Central Duals on Feb. 21 at Purdue, with the fourth-longest streak standing at 35 matches (’90-’92) while the third-longest is 38 matches from 1997-98 (the top streaks are 75, from ’93-’96, and 42 from ’86-’88).
The Irish women also are one tournament shy of posting their first unbeaten regular season since the 1995 team went 32-0.
Top performances on Sunday included another dominating day from the “A-Team” tandem of junior foilists Alicja Kryczalo (9-0; 19-1 for the weekend) and Andrea Ament (11-1; 21-1), continued strong bouting by freshman epeeist Amy Orlando (7-2; 18-4) and the three-pronged sabre attack of senior captain Destanie Milo (10-1; 20-4) and freshmen Angela Vincent (11-2; 22-4) and Valerie Providenza (7-2; 19-3).
On the men’s side, surging senior foil captain Forest Walton logged a 10-2 day (16-5 weekend) while junior Derek Snyder chipped in his own strong foil weakened (8-1; 20-1). Junior epeeist Michael Sobieraj – the 2003 NCAA runner-up – appears primed for another stab at the title, closing 7-1 in Sunday for a 19-1 weekend. Freshman sabers Matt Stearns (8-1; 19-2) and Patrick Ghattas (6-1; 15-2) continued their impressive debut seasons, combining for a 34-4 record at the ND Duals.
The Irish women raced out to the big lead on Northwestern thanks to a 7-2 showing in sabre and 6-3 in foil. Milo went 3-0, with noteworthy wins over junior Lauren Dunn (5-3) and sophomore Emily Pasternak (5-2), while Providenza added a 5-2 win over Dunn.
Kryczalo and Ament combined to sweep their Northwestern counterparts. Kryczalo rallied from a 4-3 deficit to defeat All-American Julia Foldi (the 10th-place finisher at the ’03 NCAAs) before shutting out another NCAA veteran, Christina Wang. The two-time defending NCAA champion then added another 5-0 win over highly-regarded freshman Jessica Florendo – completing a day in which she avenged earlier losses to both Foldi and Florendo at the Northwestern Duals. Ament added three comfortable wins over the Wildcats, besting Wang 5-1, Florendo 5-3 and Foldi 5-2.
Northwestern edged Notre Dame in women’s epee (5-4), despite another strong showing by Orlando. Senior captain Kerry Walton (5-0) combined with Orlando (5-3) to post a pair of wins over sophomore Sharon Sullivan, who placed 14th at the 2003 NCAAs.
Kryczalo (5-1) and Ament (5-4) also posted wins over Cal State Fullerton’s Senta Breden (a 2003 NCAA participant), with Saturday’s bouts also including Sobieraj’s 5-1 win over Duke’s Nathan Bragg (also a ’03 NCAA entrant). Wayne State’s top women’s epeeists – All-American Anna Vinnikov and Anna Garina (a newcomer from the Ukraine) – both swept the Irish.
Notes: Walton had defeated Sullivan in four previous meetings (regular season, Midwest Regional or NCAAs) … Orlando avenged a 5-4 loss to Sullivan at the Northwestern Duals … Ament also beat Florendo at the Northwestern Duals (5-2) … Kryczalo now holds a 7-1 record vs. Foldi in college regular-season, regional or NCAA bouts (Ament is 6-1 vs. Foldi in such bouts) … Milo now has split six college bouts vs. Dunn (non including Midwest Fencing Conference team/individual competition) … Pasternak lost her first two college matchups with Pasternak but has won the last two (including the ’03 NCAAs) … the Northwestern women quickly rebounded to post a surprising 17-10 win over Ohio State … Forest Walton continues his climb up the ND record books, moving from 21st to 16th on the ND list for men’s fencing wins at 151-35 (all weapons) … Walton also now ranks 4th on the ND list for career foil wins, just three behind Stephane Auriol (’99) and six shy of former teammate Ozren Debic (’03) … Walton’s 36 wins are eight shy of cracking the ND foil single-season top 10 list … Sobieraj moved up from 54th to 46th on the ND career wins chart (111-8), with his .933 career winning pct. ranking 5th all-time (tops among epeeists) … Sobieraj’s .932 season winning pct. (41-3) would rank 4th in ND history (tied with the 1997 pct. by Tim Glass, who was at the Joyce Center this weekend as a Northwestern assistant) … his 41 wins are four shy of that top-10 epee list … Snyder (104-19) became the 60th ND men’s fencers to reach 100 career wins (he needs six more win to move into that foil single-season top 10) … Ghattas (36-4) and Stearns (35-9) have combined to win 85% of their bouts this season (71-13) … Ament (42-4) and Kryczalo (42-5) own nearly-identical season records and have combined to win 90% of their bouts … Kryczalo (121-1, .924) still ranks 3rd on the ND all-time win pct. list while Ament (111-12, .902) remains 8th on that list … Walton (39-11) and Orlando (35-13) have combined to win 76% of their bouts this season (74-24) … since a rough 4-9 start to her college career, Orlando has won 31 of her last 35 bouts … Walton needs 13 more wins to crack the ND top 20 while she has dropped to 14th on the ND career win pct. list (.863, 132-21) … Milo jumped from 17th to 13th on the career wins list (163-35) while her career win pct. currently ranks 19th (163-35) … Milo (37-11), Providenza (39-6) and Vincent (41-10) have combined to win 81% of their bouts (117-27), with the freshman duo owning a 80-16 combined mark (.833) … Providenza’s .867 season win pct. is on pace for 4th in the ND women’s sabre charts (Vincent would rank 5th at .863).
NOTRE DAME FENCING COLLEGIATE DUALS
(Jan. 31-Feb. 1, 2004 … Joyce Center Fieldhouse)
* MEN’S RESULTS *
ROUND 1
Notre Dame def. Cleveland State, 24-3
UC San Diego def. Air Force, 21-6
Ohio State def. Detroit, 27-0
Duke def. Wayne State, 18-9
Cal State Fullerton def. Northwestern, 15-12
ROUND 2
Notre Dame def. Air Force, 21-6
Ohio State def. Cleveland State, 27-0
Duke def. UC San Diego, 19-8
Northwestern def. Wayne State, 15-12
Cal State Fullerton def. Lawrence, 24-3
ROUND 3
Notre Dame def. Ohio State, 15-12
Duke def. Air Force, 21-6
UC San Diego def. Northwestern, 16-11
Cal State Fullerton def. Detroit, 20-7
Wayne State def. Lawrence, 21-6
ROUND 4
Ohio State def. Cal State Fullerton, 24-3
Air Force def. Lawrence, 26-1
UC San Diego def. Detroit, 25-2
Duke def. Cleveland State, 24-3
ROUND 5
Notre Dame def. Duke, 19-8
Air Force def. Northwestern, 18-9
Cal State Fullerton def. Cleveland State, 22-5
UC San Diego def. Lawrence, 23-4
Wayne State def. Detroit, 21-4
ROUND 6
Notre Dame def. UC San Diego, 20-7
Air Force def. Wayne State, 19-8
Ohio State def. Lawrence, 27-0
Duke def. Cal State Fullerton, 17-10
ROUND 7
Notre Dame def. Cal State Fullerton, 21-6
Ohio State def. UC San Diego, 25-2
Air Force def. Cleveland State, 20-7
Lawrence def. Detroit, 14-9
ROUND 8
Notre Dame def. Lawrence, 26-1
Wayne State def. Cal State Fullerton, 14-13
Northwestern def. Detroit, 20-7
Ohio State def. Air Force, 21-6
ROUND 9
Notre Dame def. Northwestern, 21-6
Ohio State def. Wayne State, 24-3
Air Force def. Detroit, 25-2
UC San Diego def. Cleveland State, 22-5
ROUND 10
Notre Dame def. Detroit, 27-0
UC San Diego def. Wayne State, 17-10
Cleveland State def. Lawrence, 22-5
Ohio State def. Northwestern, 25-2
ROUND 11
Notre Dame def. Wayne State, 18-9
Northwestern def. Cleveland State, 16-11
* WOMEN’S RESULTS *
ROUND 1
Notre Dame def. Cleveland State, 26-1
Air Force def. UC San Diego, 18-9
Ohio State def. Detroit, 25-2
Duke def. Wayne State, 19-8
Northwestern def. Cal State Fullerton, 21-6
ROUND 2
Notre Dame def. Air Force, 21-6
Ohio State def. Cleveland State, 27-0
Duke def. UC San Diego, 21-6
Northwestern def. Wayne State, 21-6
Cal State Fullerton def. Lawrence, 23-3
ROUND 3
Notre Dame def. Ohio State, 14-13
Duke def. Air Force, 18-9
Northwestern def. UC San Diego, 18-9
Cal State Fullerton def. Detroit, 19-8
Wayne State def. Lawrence, 20-4
ROUND 4
Ohio State def. Cal State Fullerton, 21-6
Air Force def. Lawrence, 243
UC San Diego def. Detroit, 21-6
Northwestern def. Duke, 15-12
ROUND 5
Notre Dame def. Duke, 18-9
Northwestern def. Air Force, 22-5
Cal State Fullerton def. Cleveland State, 23-4
UC San Diego def. Lawrence, 24-3
Wayne State def. Detroit, 19-7
ROUND 6
Notre Dame def. UC San Diego, 21-6
Air Force def. Wayne State, 16-11
Ohio State def. Lawrence, 25-2
Duke def. Cal State Fullerton, 16-11
ROUND 7
Notre Dame def. Cal State Fullerton, 21-6
Ohio State def. UC San Diego, 23-4
Air Force def. Cleveland State, 23-4
Detroit def. Lawrence, 17-6
ROUND 8
Notre Dame def. Lawrence, 25-2
Cal State Fullerton def. Wayne State, 14-13
Northwestern def. Detroit, 26-1
Ohio State def. Air Force, 18-9
ROUND 9
Notre Dame def. Northwestern, 18-9
Ohio State def. Wayne State, 20-7
Air Force def. Detroit, 21-6
UC San Diego def. Cleveland State, 24-3
ROUND 10
Notre Dame def. Detroit, 26-1
Wayne State def. UC San Diego, 14-13
Cleveland State def. Lawrence, 20-7
Northwestern def. Ohio State, 17-10
ROUND 11
Notre Dame def. Wayne State, 20-7
Northwestern def. Cleveland State, 21-6