Undefeated Swordsmen Outduel Brandeis, 21-6; Crimson Women Fall, 9-7, Despite Comeback

The Harvard men's fencing team carved through a solid Brandeis defense yesterday, tallying 21-6 in a consistently strong performance.

Although the swordsmen led by only a single bout at the end of first round, the Crimson managed to focus their concentration, rallying and capturing 17 of captain and epeeman Bill Marshall said.

All three weapon squads recorded strong showings during the meet, with sabre going 7-2, foil tallying 6-3 and epee capturing eight of its nine bouts.

"It was all a matter of concentration," captain and epeeman Bill Marshall said. "Foil concentration was off during the first round, but during the second and third rounds we focused on the moves we've been learning."

All-American sabreman David Heyman (who Marshall calls a "brilliant" fencer) led individual scoring during the meet, conquering each of his three opponents. Second sabreman Brad Jeffries also turned in a stellar performance, winning two bouts and losing the third because of "questionable" scoring.

Praise

Marshall also lauded fourth-ranked foilsman Cameron Bright for "very smart fencing," lead epeeman Steve Kaufer for a consistently strong performance, and epeeman Paul Crnkovich, whose technique has improved markedly during the last few meets.

Harvard's women fencers did not fare as well, losing the meet, 9-7, to a technically proficient Brandeis team, despite a comeback in the second half.

Captain Carolyn Powell attributed the team's loss to "the worst case of pre-meet jitters I've ever seen. We realized Brandeis was going to be a tough opponent and psyched ourselves out. We were fencing as if we didn't know which end of the blade to hold."

The team's pre-meet anxiety was compounded by a straight five-bout loss at the outset. "Losing five bouts straight was a big psychological bust," Powell said. The team later rallied but was unable to overcome the initial setback.

Far from disillusioning the team, the loss to Brandeis will be viewed as a challenge and could spark a strong comeback, Powell said. "We're the kind of team where it's better not to be unbeaten. We get mad, and then we go ahead and win," she said.