Cornell had little difficulty dispatching visiting Sacred Heart 21-6 yesterday at Stifel Fencing Salle.
Cornell swept the epee and sabre competitions, dominating with a perfect 9-0 in each weapon. The foil squad encountered the toughest opposition of the day and lost 6-3.
Head coach Al Peters was happy with the team’s performance.
“I think they performed very well,” he said. “They fenced with discipline, they fenced with heart.”
Sacred Heart could not field an entire team due to injuries and had only one competitor in both epee and sabre. Thus, Cornell was automatically awarded six wins because of forfeits.
“It’s always disconcerting to have to not fence a full team,” said Peters.
Freshman epee fencer Meghan Phair easily overpowered her opponent, defeating her 5-0 and earning the only shutout victory of the competition. The rest of the epee squad won its matches in a similarly effortless fashion, with senior Siobhan Cully winning her match 5-1, and freshman Evelyn Scarborough winning 5-2.
The sabre squad encountered little difficulty winning its matches, with senior Eleanor Bartolomeo and junior Lily Nierenberg winning their sole matches 5-1, while junior Erin Conroy prevailed 5-2 in hers.
The foil competition was the hardest fought battle of the day, with each team fielding three competitors. Sacred Heart’s top two athletes won all of their bouts, while the Red’s fencers each earned one victory. Freshman Amy Rowan Kaplan won a 5-2 victory in her sole win, while senior Tara Watkins and junior Valerie DeRose fenced much closer matches but emerged victorious, 5-4. Despite the loss, Peters was still pleased with their performance.
“The foil squad fenced well.