CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – At the first Northeast Fencing Conference meet of the season, held on Saturday, Nov. 17 at MIT, the Brandeis women went 5-1, while the men posted a 3-2 record.
On the women's side, the Judges cruised past Wellesley, 21-6; Boston University, 20-7; New Hampshire, 21-6; and UMass, 22-5, without dropping a single weapon in any of those four matches. The foil squad posted shutouts against Wellesley and BU, while the epee squad did the same against UMass.
The women's closest matches came against a pair of NFC rivals, Sacred Heart and MIT. Against the Pioneers, Brandeis prevailed by a 15-12 score, thanks to 6-3 wins in saber and foil. In the match with the Engineers, despite an 8-1 victory in foil, the Judges could not overcome a loss by the same margin in epee and by a 6-3 score in saber.
The top performer of the meet for the Brandeis women was rookie Caroline Mattos (Cumberland, R.I./LaSalle Academy), who posted a 15-1 mark in foil and claimed her second-straight University Athletic Association Fencer of the Week honor in the process. Classmate Emilia Dwyer (New York, N.Y./Hunter H.S.) was 13-3 in foil action as the duo helped the squad to an undefeated day. Senior captain Zoe Messinger (Short Hills, N.J./Millburn) led the saber squad with a 14-2 record, while classmate Emmily Smith (Stony Brook, N.Y. / Ward-Melville) was 12-4. The saberists went 5-1 at the meet. The epee squad, which went 4-2, did not have any standout performers, with three different fencers earning five wins each.
On the men's side, Brandeis rolled past its first three opponents, Boston University, 22-5; New Hampshire, 22-5; and Massachusetts, 20-7. The Judges fell just short against two of the tougher squads on their schedule for the day, bowing to Sacred Heart and MIT by 16-11 scores. The match against MIT was especially tough as Brandeis won in both saber, 5-4, and foil, 6-3, but it wasn't enough to overcome a 9-0 epee victory by the Engineers.
Leading the way on the men's squad was the saber squad, which went 5-0, thanks to a 10-0 mark from sophomore Adam Mandel (White Plains, N.Y. / Masters School), who copped UAA Fencer of the Week honors. Sophomores Ethan Levy (Great Neck, N.Y. / Great Neck South) and Noah Berman (Palo Alto, Calif. / Palo Alto) paced the foil squad to a 4-1 mark with records of 10-3 and 9-3, respectively. The Judges' epee squad saw rookies Tom Hearne (Holmdel, N.J. / Ranney School) and Justin Kwon (Seoul, Korea / Wasatch Acad.) earn five and four wins apiece.
Brandeis women:
Brandeis 21, Wellesley 6 (S, 6-3; F, 9-0; E, 6-3)
Brandeis 20, Boston Univ. 7 (S, 5-4; F, 9-0; E, 6-3)
Brandeis 21, New Hampshire 6 (S, 7-2; F, 8-1, E, 6-3)
Brandeis 22, Massachusetts 5 (S, 7-2; F, 6-3; E, 9-0)
Brandeis 15, Sacred Heart 12 (S, 6-3; F, 6-3; E, 3-6)
MIT 15, Brandeis 12 (S, 6-3; F, 1-8; E, 8-1)
SQUAD RECORDS: Sabre, 5-1; Foil, 6-0; Epee, 4-2.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Zoe Messinger, saber: 14-2
Emmily Smith, saber: 12-4
Caroline Mattos, foil: 15-1
Emilia Dwyer, foil: 13-3
Leah Mack, epee: 5-4
Mexi Gremillion, epee: 5-3
Gwen Mowell, epee, 5-4
MEN Brandeis
Brandeis 22, Boston Univ. 5 (S, 7-2; F, 7-2; E, 8-1)
Brandeis 22, New Hampshire 5 (S, 9-0; F, 9-0, E, 4-5)
Brandeis 20, Massachusetts 7 (S, 7-2; F, 8-1; E, 5-4)
Sacred Heart 16, Brandeis 11 (S, 3-6; F, 8-1; E, 5-4)
MIT 16, Brandeis 11 (S, 4-5; F, 3-6; E, 9-0)
SQUAD RECORDS: Saber, 5-0; F, 4-1; 3-2.
TOP PERFORMERS
Adam Mandel, saber: 10-0
Noah Berman, foil: 9-3
Ethan Levy,foil: 10-3
Tom hearne, epee: 5-3
Justin Kwon, epee: 4-1