Swordsmen Lose in Disputed Match; Crimson Women Also Drop to Yale

"Halt!"

Milli-seconds later, the Yale fencer had stabbed his Harvard opponent to capture the tying touch. The exuberant crowd had drowned out the official shout to halt the match. The Elis went on to capture a 14-13 victory over Harvard in sudden death overtime at Malkin Athletic Center last night.

Trailing 13-11, Harvard rallied for two consecutive bouts to tie the match and, with Jim Rothwell leading, 4-3, in the final minute of the meet's final bout, a Crimson upset looked imminent.

Then all hell broke loose.

The meet's scorekeeper, Jamie McInnes, yelled "Halt!" to stop the match, but he was drowned out by the cheering crowd as Yale's Johnathon Bender placed his weapon on Rothwell's chest.

Next came 10 minutes of confusion. Finally the director decided to let the point stand, tying the bout at four-all.

"Since I hadn't heard time run out, I let the match go on," Director Eric de Beus said. "The scorekeeper is supposed to yell time and I didn't hear it."

Bender tallied the final point for the Elis' victory.

"The director is responsible for hearing the scorekeeper," Harvard Assistant Coach Zoran Tulum said. "And he did not hear him."

Yale Coach Henry Harutunian concurred, "The director did not hear the timer, but the timer must get up and yell."

The loss snapped Harvard's three-game winning streak, dropping the team's final record to 5-6 overall (1-4 Ivy).

Jim O'Neill (3-0) led the Harvard effort.

In other fencing action, the women's team was defeated by Yale, 10-6, also at Malkin.

Harvard ends the year 9-5 overall, 2-3 Ivy.