PHILADELPHIA - On Sunday, January 25th, the Haverford College men's fencing team competed at the Philadelphia Invitational, held at the University of Pennsylvania's Micahnik Fencing Center.

The Fords opened with a rematch of last weekend's defeat at the hands of Penn. Fencing on the Quakers' home turf, the Fords fared much better the second time around as they won six bouts after taking just one in the previous meeting. Senior sabrist Josh Nadel opened what turned out to be a personal best day with two wins over the Quakers, as did epeeist Eric Gardner. Max Findley and Ching Li each contributed a win as well.

A close match against perennial rival North Carolina followed. The Tar Heels edged out the Fords Fords by 5-4 scores in both epee and foil. Findley and Gardner continued their hot start to the day as they were each undefeated against UNC.

Haverford notched its first win of the invitational with a 22-5 victory against Drew University in the third round, setting the stage for tough matches against Duke and Johns Hopkins. In the win against Drew, it was the Fords' foils that led the way with a perfect 9-0 mark. Haverford also got seven wins from sabre and six more from epee to win all three weapons. In round four, the Fords upset Duke in the epee, 5-4, as Gardner and Kai Faris each took two bouts off of the Blue Devils and Jake Bassinder contributed one as well. Against Johns Hopkins, Gardner and Findley each recorded two victories for the Fords.

Gardner led all Fords on the day with a 12-3 record, while Findley (7-5) and Nadel (9-6) led the foils and sabrists, respectively. Nadel showed his strong focus in the clutch by winning all three of his matches that went to four-all.

The Fords will travel to Cambridge, Mass. next weekend, for Sunday's Eric Sollee Invitational at MIT.

Penn def. Haverford, 21-6
Epee: 7-2
Foil: 8-1
Sabre: 6-3

North Carolina def. Haverford, 16-11
Epee: 5-4
Foil: 5-4
Sabre: 6-3

Haverford def. Drew, 22-5
Epee: 7-2
Foil: 9-0
Sabre: 6-3

Duke def. Haverford, 19-8
Epee: 4-5
Foil0: 7-2
Sabre: 8-1

Johns Hopkins def. Haverford, 19-8
Epee: 6-3
Foil: 6-3
Sabre: 7-2