Underclassmen foil squad leads way past Tigers

After the women's epee fencers battled Princeton to an 8-8 draw, the foil squad cruised to win the meet. The emotions were running high when the Penn women's fencing team met Princeton Wednesday night. This meet had few implications regarding the lead in the Ivy League, but the intensity was still there. Friendships between the opposing teams and the rivalry between Penn and Princeton created an atmosphere filled with excitement and tension. Coming off a tough 21-11 loss last week to league opponent Harvard, Penn was hoping to pick up a conference victory against Princeton, and they accomplished their desired end. With the win, Penn improved its record to 6-3 overall, 2-2 in the Ivy League. More importantly, however, Penn used this win to gain a much-needed confidence boost before they host a multitude of league teams, including Cornell, on the weekend of February 22. Entering the meet, Penn was aware of Princeton's defeat by the foils of Temple. Penn opened the season with a relatively easy victory over the Owls but did not allow this previous victory to cloud their minds as they prepared to face the Tigers. "Princeton is a strong league opponent, and I am surprised that Temple defeated them," Penn coach Dave Micahnik said. "In fencing, if we beat one team one day and then they beat another team the next day, it does not mean that we will beat that team. The transitive property does not hold true in fencing." The Quakers not only fenced well Wednesday to achieve another league victory, but also to impress previous teammates. Meredith Galto, a member of Penn's epee squad, faced her old club team member Caitlin Rich, a member of the Princeton team. "Caitlin is one of my friends from home," said Galto. "She is a strong epee fencer and it was fun to fence against her." Galto's 5-4 victory over her friendly counterpart aided Penn's epee squad in evening the score at eight on their side of the meet. The backbone of Penn's fencing team this season has been the usual strong play of the epee squad, but when they were only able to level the score, the focus turned toward the young foilers. Last week the Quakers foil team was routed by Harvard, 13-3, and looked toward this meet to prove that they belonged. Even after the rout, Micahnik did not lose confidence in the young foilers. "A lot of the bouts were a lot closer than the score had indicated," said Micahnik before the meet. "I think our foilers will show what they are made of this meet." And indeed they did. The Penn foil team, comprised of only freshmen and sophomores, showed maturity beyond their years in posting an impressive victory, 13-3, over their league rival. The victory by the foil team allowed the Red and Blue to cruise to victory and gain the desired confidence to guide them through the rest of the season.