Posted: Jan 25, 2022
PHILADELPHIA - On Saturday, January 22, the Haverford College men's and women's fencing teams participated in their second of three non-conference tournaments against solely Division I and Division II opponents. The Philadelphia Invitational, held annually at Penn, draws top teams from all over the country each year to West Philadelphia.
The women's team pulled off an upset over Fairleigh Dickinson, 17-9, after a hard fought loss to Wagner, 14-10. Between those matches, the lady Fords took a drubbing from Cornell, 26-1, and late in the afternoon joined the mens team vs. NJIT and Lafayette, dropping those matchups 18-7 and 20-7, respectively.
Leading the foilists, and all women's fencers on the day, was senior Golda Glasser, whose 8-7 record belied the fact that she had at least one win against every opposing team, including the sole victory against Cornell. First-year Sophie Gardiner chipped in four wins for the foil squad, taking one from each opponent except the Big Red of Cornell.
Junior co-captain Ceanne Lyon, having recently switched from foil to epee, led the epee squad with six wins, including two each against Wagner, FDU, and Lafayette. Sabristes Sophia Nicolayevsky and Rebecca Osbaldeston, the sole representatives on a depleted sabre squad, showed tenacity and grit in their tough losses, each pulling a win however to help topple FDU.
The Fords will finish their non-conference stint on Sunday, January 30 at the Sollee Invitational at MIT, where they will take on the best of Boston-area teams, as well as fence a rematch against Duke, and their first match against Princeton in over a decade of action.
Team Scores:
Wagner def Haverford 14-10
Epee: 6-3
Foil: 6-3
Sabre: 2-4
Cornell def Haverford 26-1
Epee: 9-0
Foil: 8-1
Sabre: 9-0
Haverford def FDU 17-9
Epee: 5-4
Foil: 8-1
Sabre: 4-4
NJIT def Haverford 18-7
Epee: 9-0
Foil: 6-3
Sabre: 3-4
Lafayette def Haverford 20-7
Epee: 5-4
Foil: 6-3
Sabre: 9-0