Both the men’s and women’s fencing teams went undefeated over the weekend at the annual Traditional Tournament to carry momentum from last season’s strong NCAA Tournament finishes.
On the men’s side, which went an undefeated 5-0 for the first time since 2010, co-captain Duncan O’Brien led the way with a near-perfect 14-1 bout record, and his saber group did not lose a single round all afternoon to Vassar, Penn State, Sacred Heart, NJIT, and NYU.
The same could be said about the men’s foil group which, despite the absence of injured co-captain Michael Woo, dominated its opponents throughout the afternoon en route to a 34-11 total bout record in the five rounds.
As a team, the group handily defeated the Nittany Lions by a 17-10 score a season after dropping a round against the same squad in 2014 at the Tradition Tournament. The Crimson took all three weapons from its Penn State foes, with the epee and saber groups winning by 5-4 scores as well.
The dynamic Harvard saber duo of junior co-captain Adrienne Jarocki and senior Aliya Itzkowitz carried the Crimson women to a pristine 5-0 record as well on different strips, with neither 2014 NCAA Tournament finalist dropping a single bout over the course of the day.
The closest Harvard would come to sniffing defeat was against Temple in round 4, in which the epee trio lost six bouts. However, six bout wins from the foil group and eight more from the saber squad lifted the Crimson to another win, this time by a 17-10 score, which was also the same score as last season’s match with the Owls.
The tournament win marked the third-straight for the Harvard women.
—Staff writer Caleb Y. Lee can be reached at caleb.lee@thecrimson.com.
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