CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – In their final set of head-to-head team matches of the season, the Brandeis fencing teams faced off with local rivals at Harvard University for the Beanpot Tournament. The Judge women took second place, defeating Boston College, 19-8, and MIT, 21-6, but falling to host and fifth-ranked Harvard, 20-7. The men also defeated MIT, by a 15-12 score, but fell to BC, 19-8, and #5 Harvard, 21-6.
Women's foil were the outstanding performers of the meet, winning all three matches. The Judges dominated BC and MIT, 8-1, and topped Harvard, 5-4. Senior Caroline Mattos (Cumberland, R.I./LaSalle Acad.) went undefeated at the meet, posting two wins against MIT and BC and going 3-0 against Harvard. Rookie Joanne Carminucci (Brewster, N.Y. / North Salem) led the team with eight victories, going 3-0 against MIT and BC with a 2-1 mark against the Crimson.
Women's sabre and epee each went 2-1 on the evening with wins over the Engineers (8-1 sabre, 5-4 epee) and Eagles (6-3 epee, 5-4 sabre). Harvard pulled out wins of 7-2 in epee and 9-0 in sabre. Sophomore epeeist Liz Feller (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y. / Hendrick Hudson) led the two squads with a 7-2 record, going 3-0 against BC and MIT and earning one win in three matches against Harvard. Junior sabre fencer Nina Sayles (Mamaroneck, N.Y./Loomis Chafee) was also undefeated against MIT and BC but dropped all three bouts against Harvard.
On the men's side, the foil squad picked up the team's only two squad wins, defeating MIT, 7-2, and BC 5-4. The sabre squad narrowly missed out on a couple of wins, dropping 5-4 decision to MIT and BC. Sophomore Curtis Wilson (Denver, Colo. / Kent Denver) led men's sabre with a 6-3 record, going 2-1 against all three opponents, making him the only Brandeis male with multiple wins over the host Crimson. Sophomore foil Elishua Litle (Haifa, Israel / Reali - Beit Beram)was the only other fencer on the team with wins over all three opponents, going 1-0 against MIT, 2-1 against Boston College and 1-2 against Harvard.
The Judges are back in action the weekend of Feb. 20-21 with the New England Intercollegiate Championships and the US Collegiate Squad Championships.