WALTHAM, Mass. -- The Brandeis men's fencing team had an outstanding performance at the 2012 Eric Sollee Invitational at the Gosman Center today, as the Judges went 4-1 on the afternoon. Brandeis picked up wins over Haverford (18-9), Hunter (25-2), UAA rivals NYU (17-10) and Johns Hopkins (14-13), with their only loss coming at the hands of seventh-ranked Pennsylvania (6-21). The Judges improve to 11-8 overall on the season.
The most dramatic win of the day for Brandeis came against Johns Hopkins. After the Brandeis saber squad posted a 7-2 victory behind three wins from rookie Jess Ochs-Willard (Montclair, N.J./Montclair), Johns Hopkins edged the Judges in foil action, 5-4. After the Blue Jays won five of the first six epee bouts, the match was tied, 12-12, headed into the final round of competition. The Brandeis epeeists came through, however, taking two of the last three showdowns to clinch the win. After junior Harry Kaufer (Newton, Mass./Newton South) won 5-0 over JHU's Jay DeYoung for Brandeis's 13th point, Baron Redick of the Blue Jays took a 5-2 decision from Brandeis junior Mike Zook (Chicago, Ill./Univ. of Chicago Lab School) to set up a decisive showdown between senior Alex Powell (Upper Montclair, N.J./Montclair) of Brandeis and Alex Szlgofi of Johns Hopkins. Powell earned a decisive 5-0 victory to clinch the win.
Brandeis's other signature win on the afternoon was their annual UAA showdown with NYU. The Judges took two out of three weapons, going 7-2 in saber action and 6-3 in the foil to defeat the Violets for the first time since 2007. Ochs-Willard and classmate Adam Mandel (White Plains, N.Y./The Masters School) each went 3-0 in saber, while another rookie, Noah Berman (Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto) went unbeaten for the Judges against NYU in foil action. Powell earned two of the team's four points in epee.
Against Haverford, coached by Chris Spencer '94, saber and foil won by the same scores as the NYU match, 7-2 and 6-3, while the epeeists took a 5-4 decision. Saber and foil also earned sweeps in the rout of Hunter. In the loss to No. 7 Penn, Kaufer was the only multiple winner for the Judges against the Quakers, going 2-1 in epee action.
Brandeis is next in action in a week at the Duke Invitational in North Carolina, where they will take on some of the top fencing schools in the nation, including top-ranked Penn State and the eighth-ranked host Blue Devils, as well as North Carolina, Air Force and a rematch with Johns Hopkins.