Following their dominant 26-1 performance last week at the DeCicco Duals, the Fighting Irish fencing squad traveled to Evanston, Illinois on Feb. 3 for the annual Northwestern Duals. Though Notre Dame took a step back from near-perfection, both men’s and women’s teams continued to build positive momentum as they approach the ACC and NCAA Championship matches. Building on their 13-0 run at DeCicco, the men’s team won four of their five matches while the women finished the meet with a respectable 2-3 record.
On Saturday, freshman Radu Nitu led the way in sabre, winning 12 of his 15 duals, including undefeated performances in victories against Lawrence University, UC San Diego and University of the Incarnate Word. In the foil, Dominic Joseph emerged victorious in eight of nine duals, cementing the freshman as a key contributing member of the team as the Irish chase their fourth consecutive national championship.
After struggling early in the men’s sole defeat at the hands of Boston College, senior David Wozniak performed at his best when the team needed him most, coming up with a clutch victory in an overtime bout against Stanford freshman Stanley Zhou to give the Irish a 5-4 match victory in the epee.
The women began the Northwestern Duals with a 16-11 victory over Boston College, led by undefeated performances from junior Erika Cucala in epee and senior Karina Yaroshenko in foil. The Fighting Irish then suffered a heartbreaking 13-14 defeat at the hands of the Northwestern Wildcats despite an undefeated effort from senior Amanda Pirkowski, who finished the meet with a 9-1 record.
Though the women’s team dropped the next two matches against Temple and Cornell, they ended the meet with a rousing 17-10 triumph over Stanford. Senior Neve Harrison went undefeated against the Cardinals in sabre, once again demonstrating the strength of the Irish lies in their experienced fencers.
The Fighting Irish now have two weeks to rest and prepare for the USA Fencing Junior Olympics Feb. 16-19 in Charlotte, North Carolina. A week later, the best of the fencing world in the ACC will converge in South Bend to compete for a conference championship, with the Irish looking to win their sixth title.
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