POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - The Haverford women's fencing team competed in the 21st annual Eastern Women's Fencing Conference (EWFC) championships, a regional Division III championship tournament held this year at Vassar College. The team placed 5th overall out of 10 teams, in a gruelling, 10-hour event, defeating rivals Hunter, CCNY, and Yeshiva, as well as the squads from Drew and Denison, both of which had defeated the Fords earlier in the 2021-22 season.

In the weapon squad standings, the sabre squad led the way with a 4th place finish, while foil and epee were each 6th; and during the team competition, sabriste Aamina Dhar led all fencers on the day with a solid 19-7 record. Ceanne Lyon led the epeeists with a 7-17 record (seven of those losses at a frustrating 4-5 score.)

 

But the story of the day, and of the decade, lay with senior foilist Golda Glasser in the individual portion. Glasser won the EWFC Foil Championship, the first EWFC individual crown for the Fords since Emma Buckingham won in epee in 2009. Unlike her opponents in the individual competition, Golda fenced every single bout of every round during the grueling team event, posting an impressive 17 - 7 record. Relying on her amazing stamina, speed, and uncanny instincts, she battled through a host of opponents from larger teams who had competed but sparingly in the team event, to save their legs for the individual round. 

 

The trail of thrilling victories included Zoe Tolbert of Vassar, whom Glasser had never before defeated, her team-mate, Sophie Gardiner,  possibly her most dangerous opponent, by virtue of training with her everyday and knowing her game, and, finally, in the gold medal match, Johns Hopkins' Miya Herman. 

Glasser was never a national or even regionally ranked competitor in high school, enjoying local club competitions but never intending to compete in the NCAA. Upon arriving at Haverford, she was pleasantly surprised to be invited to join the varsity team, and has been an outstanding teammate, honing her craft over the past three years .This season has been a breakout explosion of creativity and competitiveness for Glasser, who posted a 60 percent win rate versus Division I opponents at Penn State, Temple, Duke, North Carolina, and Penn. It was no wonder she wasn't intimidated by her Johns Hopkins opponent, the A-rated, 2019 NIWFA Foil Champion and 2021 NCAA All-American.

 

Glasser, keeping Herman on her heels and off-balance, piled on attack after attack and disrupted her opponent's attack, creating the trademark chaos she is known for, before applying the unexpected finesse and subtlety that is her true strength.

Showing great promise for the future of the program, the next highest individual finishers were both first-years, the aforementioned foilist Gardiner placed an impressive 3rd and Aamina Dhar was 5th in the sabre. Senior co-captain Maia Carvalho came off the injured reserve and placed 9th in epee to cap the All-Conference honorees. Maria Yea was named to the 2022 EWFC All-Academic Team, recognized to honor fencers who have excelled in the classroom, as well as in competition, with one individual from each league program represented.

The Fords will next host an Alumni bout and banquet next weekend, followed by their season finale, the National Intercollegiate Women's Fencing Association (NIWFA) Championships, at Drew University on Saturday, March 5.