At Home, Fencing Dominates Brandeis

Last night was the only time this season both the Harvard men and women’s fencing teams would play at home this year, and the university community came out to support them in full force.

In a matchup against Brandeis—and with every contest having implications for NCAA Regionals seedings later on in the season—the Crimson steamrolled the Judges by a score of 23-4 on the men’s side and 24-3 in the women’s matches. A large crowd filled the fencing room in the Malkin Athletic Center, adding to the intensity in the matches.

“The room lends itself to noise and even if there are just three people, it sounds like a hundred,” Harvard coach Peter Brand said.

“It’s a real playoff atmosphere,” said sophomore epee Edward Sherrill.

The largest cheering section centered on the area of the room in which the men’s foil was taking place.

Crimson junior Enoch Woodhouse won his opening match in a tightly contested affair by jumping over his opponent’s attack and spearing him in the back. The energetic crowd responded to the winning move with cheers of “Whose house? Woodhouse.”

The only undefeated weapon for Harvard was the epee, with the fencers for that weapon finishing 9-0 on the evening. While fencing at the Penn State Invitational this past weekend, the men’s epee squad—which consists of Sherill, senior Julian Rose and junior Ian Lindblom—also went undefeated.

“There are rumors to the effect that we are the best epee squad in the country,” Rose said. “And we believe them to be true.”

Despite the raucous atmosphere and the lopsided score, both teams said they took the meet seriously as all contests would have implications for seeding into the regional championship—which takes place on March 5th.

“Every bout you fence is really important for you and the team,” Brand said. “That’s why it matters and that’s why these guys are so pumped up. We have high hopes this year and this is probably one of the strongest squads I have ever coached.”

On the women’s side, the Crimson found little trouble against Brandeis, only a few days after falling in a tightly contested match to Penn State.

Harvard was led by another dominating performance by sophomore foil Emily Cross, who is the current junior champion. Along with her teammates in the foil, the Crimson women are one of the best squads in that weapon in the country.

The men’s team will return to the MAC one more time this year when it takes on Boston College on Feb. 8, 2006. The Harvard women do not fence again at home, but return to action on Feb. 5, 2006 in the Ivy League North meet.

—Staff writer Gabriel M. Velez can be reached at the gmvelez@fas.harvard.edu.