M. Fencing loses to Ivy rival Princeton

Princeton. Often on Penn's campus, the mere mention of the word can incite riots. However, every defeat of Princeton is considered vitally important. Throngs of Quaker faithful pour in to watch their heroes manhandle the Tigers. And when a Quaker squad somehow loses to Princeton, the competition is quickly forgotten, and Penn forces itself to move onward. Such is the case for the men's fencing team, which lost at Princeton Tuesday. The teams split the first 26 bouts, but Princeton got the "W" with an impressive 5-3 victory in the decisive final match. Despite the outcome of the last two meets, the Quakers (5-3, 0-2 Ivy League) remain confident they will bounce back. "We all fenced very well against Princeton," Penn senior captain Evan Glanz said. "Princeton has a very good team, but we put in a great effort. Unfortunately, we couldn't get the win." The loss, combined with Saturday's home loss to Yale, puts the Quakers in last place in the Ancient Eight. The trouble throughout the season has been an inability of each of the three units -- sabre, epee and foil -- to compete well on the same day. Against Princeton, the foils went 7-2, and the sabres, led by sophomore George Kalmar's performance, went 6-3. However, the epee squad had trouble, going 0-9. Two of these results seem a bit peculiar. Penn's foil unit is in the midst of a rebuilding year, yet the squad, which consists mostly of younger, inexperienced competitors, ripped the Tigers. On the other hand, the epee squad, led by freshman Alex Edelman and senior all-American Tamir Bloom, is supposed to be the Quakers' strength. They finished second overall at the NCAA Tournament last season, but have had trouble regaining last season's form. Despite the recent troubles, the Quakers believe they are improving and will be a force to be reckoned in the Ivy League. "Even though we lost, we are on an upswing," Glanz said. "We fenced great on Tuesday, and in reality, anybody could have won that meet. Unfortunately we lost, but we won't let it get us down." This appears to be the right attitude to take, especially with Penn's challenging upcoming schedule. Saturday the Quakers fence against Harvard, always a tough Ivy League opponent, and they will venture to MIT Sunday, where they will also face Brown and Brandeis. With a full docket, Penn can not afford a lengthy slump. "We just need to pull it all together," freshman Ed Cleaver said. "We have been fencing well, we just need to get together a little bit more. We'll do that, and we'll be fine this weekend." One would hope so, because it's bad enough the Quakers lost to Princeton, but should the men's fencing team's slump continue, it might find itself in the unenviable position of being at the bottom of the Ivy heap. Regardless of what the future holds, the Quakers are trying to forget that one most frightful of all events for a Penn team -- a loss to Princeton.