MADISON, N.J., March 25 - Penn fencing coach Dave Micahnik described it as "a Berkowsky performance."
What was he referring to?
It was junior Ron Berkowsky's silver medal finish in foil at the NCAA Championships.
"When he does well, it doesn't surprise me," Micahnik said.
Berkowsky romped through the round robin rounds, finishing in first place. He then proceeded to scrape by Columbia's Scott Sugimoto 15-14 in the semifinal match.
Facing Andras Horanyi of Ohio State in the championships, Berkowsky was up 12-11 with only seven seconds left. In those seven seconds, however, Horanyi managed to steal a point from the Penn fencer, tying it up and sending the bout to overtime.
Berkowsky stated that he was not surprised that his match with Horanyi went to overtime, noting that his matches with Horanyi tend to go longer.
After an "intense" overtime, Horanyi ended Berkowsky's dream of capturing the NCAA title in foil, with a 13-12 victory.
"He was within a whisker from winning it," Micahnik said.
Instead of focusing on the downside Berkowsky felt proud of the fact that he was of the same caliber as the champion.
Sophomore Matthew Kolasa also sang his praises.
He called Berkowsky "an incredible fencer" with a "good mind" and "excellent footwork."
What Kolasa feels is Berkowsky's strongest feature, however, is his attack.
"He has . a really long lunge that can hit the target basically exactly where he wants it," Kolasa said.
Now, with a fourth, third and second place finish under his belt in the NCAA Championships, Berkowsky looks to be crowned champion his senior year.
Kolasa thinks he can, emphatically saying, "He's got one more year, so he better win the darn thing!"
