This past weekend, the men’s and women’s fencing teams, ranked eighth and sixth in the nation respectively, faced tough competition at the Philadelphia Invitational hosted by Temple University and the University of Pennsylvania. The teams walked away with several statement wins and valuable momentum ahead of the Ivy League Tournament.
The men’s team ended the invitational with a 5–1 record, beating top teams such as No. 2 Yale and No. 10 Penn State. The men’s team won 17 of the 27 bouts in each match against both Yale and Penn State.
“Overall, I’m very proud of how we fenced as a team at the two days of the Philadelphia Invitational,” sophomore épéeist Alexander Liu wrote to The Daily Princetonian. “We were able to secure decisive victories against top-ranked teams.”
The women’s team also showcased their depth and determination, finishing the weekend 5–2.
Junior foilist Maia Weintraub delivered back-to-back 3–0 performances against Penn State and Fairleigh Dickinson University, while sophomore épéeist Hadley Husisian continued her stellar season with a near-undefeated weekend in her weapon.
“We had five meets over a two-week span,” Husisian said to the ‘Prince.’ “Despite the quick turnarounds between events, I was proud of the discipline and energy that we were able to bring to each and every meet.”
Although the Tigers had a successful weekend, both teams saw challenges in their match against Duke. The men’s team saw a narrow 14–13 loss to No. 12 Duke, and the women's team fell 16–11.
“Losing to Duke was definitely tough, especially considering how close the match was,” Liu told the ‘Prince.’ “Unfortunately, we were missing a few key fencers on both the men’s and women’s sides due to injury and illness. However, we will take this loss as an opportunity to learn, and come back stronger.”
On both the men’s and women’s teams, player selection has plagued the Tigers. When the team faces a shortage of healthy fencers, tough decisions and even forfeits can become necessary.
“During this event and all others so far this season, our toughest challenge has been the automatic bout forfeits that have become necessary with the number of injuries and individual tournament conflicts on the team,” Husisian said.
The invitational was held under a dual meet system, in which both teams fence 27 bouts and must win 14 to win the match. When individual fencers are missing to injury, the path to 14 wins narrows considerably.
“With missing members in some of our squads, we have had to forfeit between three and 12 of those bouts or had teammates fence a weapon that is not their usual discipline,” Husisian continued.
The standout moment of the tournament was the showdown against No. 10 Penn State. After a tight 5–4 start, the épée team took command of the match, taking the lead to 13–5 behind an undefeated 3–0 record from Liu.
“We were able to come out on top against a talented team featuring multiple Olympians, world champions, and NCAA finalists,” Liu said to the ‘Prince.’
The men’s team went on to beat Penn State and continued to build off this momentum by taking down both Lafayette and Yale on the same day. With the Ivy League Championship just around the corner, the Philadelphia Invitational served as a critical benchmark for the team.
The Tigers’ strong performances at the Invitational not only bolstered their confidence but also established a competitive rhythm that will be crucial in the high-stakes environment of Ivy competition.
“Ivies is the most intense tournament I have ever witnessed or participated in,” Husisian told the ‘Prince.’ “Every touch scored triggers this wall of sound as schools cheer for or against you.”
“Mentality becomes especially important in environments like Ivies. In our practices, we’ve been focusing increasingly on timed bouts under tournament conditions in order to simulate the stress we’ll be experiencing,” Husisian continued.
Princeton’s performances this weekend solidified their place among the nation’s top teams and highlighted individual successes. The Tigers will now begin preparing for the Ivy League Championships as they look to make a run at the NCAA Title over the next couple of weeks.
Matthew Yi is an assistant Sports editor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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