Both Harvard fencing teams delivered strong perfomances at the MIT Invitational yesterday. The women cruised to a 4-0 sweep, while the men registered a 3-1 record on the day.

Men

The Harvard men’s fencing team picked up three wins yesterday but lost its most important matchup, against Ivy opponent Penn, 17-10. UNC and NYU both fell to the Crimson 18-9, while Duke bowed out, 15-12.

The toughest competition during the Quaker match was in the foil division, where Penn swept Harvard, 9-0.

“Penn has an extremely strong foil squad, and we weren’t able to challenge them,” co-captain foil Ben Schmidt said. “They were able to take advantage of our weaknesses. It was disappointing that we lost since we were really gunning for it.”

Wins by the squad and two saber fencers could not make up for the foil event, which Harvard coach Peter Brand termed a “killer.”

Having recorded its first win since 1978 over No. 1 Columbia last November, Harvard would have set itself up with a great opportunity to claim the Ivy championship this year by defeating Penn.

The Crimson still has a chance to take the title if it defeats Princeton and Yale and the Lions beat the Quakers.

“The men were a little sluggish at first, but they finished very strong against UNC,” Brand said. “Right now we can only hope UPenn loses one, so [the Ivy Championship] basically comes down to the meet against Yale and Princeton.”

“I think UPenn will have a very difficult time beating Princeton,” Brand added.

In the NYU match, the saber squad had the best record, with a 7-2 performance overall.

The win was even more satisfying since Brand has a less-than-favorable opinion of the NYU team.

“Obviously they’re in our region, but I didn’t really want them here,” Brand said. “It’s just a part of the rivalry and the competition. It was a strong competition and fairly intense. Winning is always good, and there are no arguments after a win.”

The victory over Duke was made easier because the Blue Devils were missing one epee fencer. The automatic three-bout forfeit proved to be the difference in the match, but the Crimson still posted strong performances in the saber and foil events.

“Even if they had their third guy, we could have won,” Brand said.

Women

The Crimson women had a perfect weekend, winning all five of their matches easily. While the opposition wasn’t overwhelming, the competition was important for Ivy League championship points.

“It’s definitely a good sense for regionals and qualifying for nationals,” co-captain foil Amy Bei said. “It was good to get some practice in and see how we do against other Ivies.”

The action started on Saturday against Cornell, whom Harvard beat, 18-9. The Crimson kept rolling on Sunday, defeating Duke 17-10, Penn 15-12, NYU 18-9 and UNC 24-3.

“The women were very impressive, especially against UPenn,” Brand said. “I thought it would be a much tougher contest, but we pretty much dominated. Our weakest squad was the epee, and they came out strong and gave us two bouts against a very good UPenn squad.”

The weekend showcased the strength of the foil squad, which has been led this year by two freshmen, Anne Austin and Chloe Stinetorf. Austin went undefeated yesterday, racking up 12 wins, while Stinetorf posted an impressive 11-1 record.

“The freshmen have really opened the doors to so much potential,” junior saber Eunice Yi said. “They’re unstoppable.”

Yi turned in a strong performance with a 10-2 record, including two 5-0 bouts.

“We don’t have backups, so everyone has to be on top of their game all the time,” Yi said. “The team is definitely smaller this year, but the morale is great.”

In particular, the epee squad has been shorthanded since the graduation of Naz Firoz at the end of the fall semester. Sophomore Mary Widmeyer was switched from foil to epee at the beginning of the year to prepare for the loss. She joins juniors Rebecca Cantu, a walk-on as a freshman, and Sara Park.

The epee fencers ignored their less-than-ideal circumstances and cleaned up with 8-1 wins over NYU and UNC.

“They’ve stepped it up a notch,” Yi said. “They’re definitely being challenged, but they’re doing phenomenally well considering the circumstances.”

“At the NYU meet, the saber squad faltered a little,” Bei added. “But the epee squad came through and picked up the slack.”

Both teams continue their pursuit for the Northeast Fencing Conference title when they compete at Tufts next weekend. The Crimson will face MIT, Tufts, BC and Wellesley in what should be a more hotly contested competition.

“[This weekend] was a good warmup for upcoming matches,” Yi said.

—Staff writer Brenda E. Lee can be reached at belee@fas.harvard.edu.