Jan. 25, 2010
QUEENS, N.Y.- After a strong showing in Saturday's duals, the Penn State fencing team was not as successful at the St. John's Invitational. The one-day event, which included some of the top-ranked schools in the nation, took place yesterday, Jan. 24.
In the first round, the fencers had a good showing against Harvard, defeating Harvard 20-7 in the men's competition and 17-10 in the women's competition. The men's foil also went 9-0 in this round.
In the second round, Penn State continued it's winning streak with a hard-earned win against #4 (men's)/#6 (women's) Ohio State. The men's team won by a slim margin, 14-13, and the women's team took control with a 20-7 finish.
The ultimate test came against #2 Notre Dame in the third round. Unfortunately, Penn State could not hold back the Fighting Irish and lost both the men's and women's duals for the first time this season. They lost 16-11 in the men's duals and 14-13 in the women's duals.
The fourth round was successful for the men's team, but the women's team still couldn't get their rhythm back. The men's team defeated #8 St. John's by a score of 16-11 and the women's team lost by a close score, 14-13, to the unranked St. John's women's team.
In the final round, Penn State continued to struggle against #5 (men's)/#4 (women's) Columbia, but managed to get a win for the men's team. The women's team fell just short again losing the last 3 rounds of the Invitational. Despite going 0-9 in the epee, the men's team managed to get strong finishes in the saber and foil to come out with a 14-13 victory, while the women's team lost by the same score, 14-13.
Despite the disappointing showing in their biggest competition of the season thus far, the fencers will look forward to their upcoming duals at Duke University. The dual starts on Saturday, Feb. 6 and will conclude the following day. The fencers hope to bounce back from this performance as the NCAA Championship in March approaches quickly.
For results from the St. John's Invitational, please visit St, John's fencing website here. For individual statistics for the Penn State fencers, please visit the "STATS" link on Penn State Fencing's site through gopsusports.com.