CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- The Brandeis University men's fencing team posted a 4-2 record at the 2013 Eric Sollee Invitational, hosted this year by MIT. The meet was highlighted by a 17-10 win over over University Athletic Association rival NYU, and included wins over Yeshiva (26-1), Stevens Tech (16-11) and Haverford (19-8). The Judges also suffered losses to eighth-ranked Pennsylvania (3-24) and ninth-ranked Duke (12-15). Brandeis now owns an overall record of 12-9 this season.
As usual, the meet was highlighted by the Judges' match against their top Division III rival, NYU. The Judges won all three weapons, taking foil and epee, 5-4, and sabre by a 7-2 mark. The sabre squad, after dropping their first bout, won five in a row to help jump out to the big lead. Sophomore Ben Loft (Basking Ridge, N.J. / Ridge) led the way by going 3-0. The match was eventually clinched by the epee squad, which fell behind 3-1, but rallied to win four of the last five bouts.
The loss to Duke was a tough one, as all three Brandeis squads suffered 5-4 defeats.
In addition to their win over NYU, the sabre squad posted the team's best squad record with a 4-2 mark for the day, and just missed defeating Duke, falling 5-4. Their 8-1 victory over Stevens Tech was the difference in the match, as the Ducks won the other two weapons by 5-4 scores. Individually, Loft finished at 8-6 overall, while classmate Jess Ochs-Willard (Montclair, N.J. / Montclair) was 9-4.
The epee squad was .500 on the afternoon, posting wins over NYU, Yeshiva and Haverford, but falling to Stevens (4-5), Duke (4-5) and Penn (1-8). Rookie Ari Feingersch (Coral Springs, Fla. / J.P. Taravella) matched Ochs-Willardthe team's best winning percentage on the day, going 9-4.
While the foil squad went just 2-4 overall, three of their four losses, against Stevens, Haverford and Duke, were all by 5-4 margins. Junior Julian Cardillo (Medford, Mass./St. Johns Prep) was Brandeis's top winner on the afternoon with 11 wins, going 11-7 overall.