Notre Dame tacked another successful competition onto its 2013 resume Saturday, as the men's and women's teams combined to go 13-1 at the Northwestern Duals in Evanston, Ill.
The second-ranked women's team recorded a perfect 8-0 record on the day, while the third-ranked Irish men's squad went 5-1. Notre Dame, which made the long trek to New York the previous weekend to compete at the St. John's and NYU Invitationals, had a relatively short bus trip on its hands this weekend, traveling to Northwestern University for the one-day event.
On the women's side, the Irish recorded eight victories, three of which came against ranked opponents, including No. 9 Temple, No. 4 Ohio State, and No. 1 Princeton. The Irish also beat Stanford and North Carolina en route to their undefeated day.
Irish epeeists compiled a 63-9 record over their eight matches, including 9-0 shutouts against Fairleigh Dickinson and Cal Tech. Sophomores Nicole Ameli and Ashley Severson both went 3-0 against defending national champion Ohio State, while senior epeeistEwaNelip posted a 3-0 mark against No. 1 Princeton.
The women's foils recorded a combined 56-16 record Saturday. Sophomore foil Madison Zeiss joined her epee teammates in posting a 3-0 mark against Ohio State. The only match in which the foils were outscored was against No. 1 Princeton, as the Tigers bested the Irish 5-4.
With Saturday's victories, the lady Irish improved their season dual record to 17-1, with their only loss coming at the hands of No. 3 Columbia at the NYU Invitational on Jan. 27.
On the men's side, the Irish recorded five wins, including a decisive three-weapon sweep of No. 10 Stanford and a hard-fought one-point victory over No. 4 Princeton.
The lone Notre Dame defeat came against No. 1 Ohio State, a match in which the Tigers outscored the Irish 7-2 in the epee event. Notre Dame beat the defending national champion Buckeyes at the St. John's Invitational on Jan. 26.
Senior and 2012 Olympian GerekMeinhardt made his regular-season debut Saturday. The San Francisco native rebounded from an opening match loss to Ohio State, going 3-0 in the subsequent five bouts to finish the day with a 17-1.
Saturday's wins put the Irish men at 11-5 on the season.
Notre Dame now turns its attention to this upcoming Sunday, when the men and women will compete at the Duke Duals at Duke University in Durham, N.C.
