Perfection yesterday was not good enough.
In the second round of the Ivy League Round Robin Fencing Tournament at Princeton, both the Penn men's and women's fencing teams went undefeated. Last week they had each lost to Columbia, and that one defeat was enough to push them each down to second place in the Ivies, despite the strong second-round performance.
"I guess I have to say I'm never satisfied with anything less than winning," coach Dave Micahnik said, "but I think the team did pretty well."
The men defeated Brown, 16-11, and Princeton, 20-7, while the women convincingly downed Brown, 20-7, Cornell, 18-9 and Princeton, 20-7.
"All of our meets were pretty competitive, but we won them in good style," Micahnik said.
This round robin determined who made the cut as All-Ivy selections, putting pressure on the Red and Blue's top fencers.
Four Penn women and four Penn men were named first or second team All-Ivy. Most notably, Jon Berkowsky finished in a tie for second place on first team sabre, and Ilana Sinkin came in second on the first team women's foil. Quakers teammates Alex Salsman and Ron Berkowsky finished tied for second place on first team men's foil.
Some fencers, though, narrowly missed the cut for the honor.
"Andrew Bielen, who's an All-American, missed it by one bout, and that's a shame," Micahnik said.
Surprisingly - and promisingly - for the Quakers, their reserves also stepped up to contribute. Freshman Jenna Stahl fenced against Cornell and won two of her three bouts. Mario Ponticello, a sophomore foilist, won all three bouts in a match against Princeton.
Micahnik thinks his team lived up to its potential in its Ivy competition.
"I said before the season started we were going to be contenders," he said. "If everybody fenced to their backs, then we had a shot to win, and it played out about like that."
And in a season that is so short, every match is pivotal.
"The season just flies," Micahnik commented. "If you get hot, that's good. If you're not hot, that's not good."
For this team, ultimately only one match mattered.
"It all came down to the match with Columbia last week," Micahnik said. Finishing second - just one meet behind the Lions - isn't an easy pill for the coach or his players to swallow.
"It's a shame when you're so close," he said.
