While some coaches are cautious before the beginning of a new campaign, fencing coach William Shipman said that he had high hopes for the men's and women's teams this year at the New England Intercollegiate Fencing Conference Fall Invitational this past Saturday.

"Our fencing squads will look to make headlines... we have a long and successful tradition that we try to keep going," he wrote in an email to the Justice.

After sending 12 fencers to the final eight and accumulating five medals in the NEIFC on Saturday-better known as "The Big One" in fencing circles-the Judges have made their first headline.

Saberist Adam Mandel '15, followed his All-American campaign-the first such honor for a Brandeis fencer since 2008-by picking up right where he left off, going undefeated in pool play. He topped saberist Jess Ochs-Willard '15 in the quarterfinals before defeating Brown University freshman Alex Palabrica and Sacred Heart University junior Tom Gerrity by respective 15-14 and 15-6 margins for the gold medal.

The other saberist to earn a medal, Annabel Sharahy '17, turned heads in her collegiate debut, outscoring her first three opponents by a combined 30-7 margin. She knocked off Brown sophomore Lauren Altman in the final eight, but ultimately failed to hold her own in a close 15-13 loss to Brown senior Caitlin Taylor, the tournament's eventual champion.

The foilists, though, stole the show this weekend, earning three medals at "The Big One."

Julian Cardillo '14 and Caroline Mattos '16, the other two Brandeis fencers to make a statement last April at the NCAA Championships, continued to build upon their successes with silver and bronze medals, respectively, in pool play.

Cardillo edged Boston College sophomore Hanmin Lee by a 15-13 score in the semifinals, before suffering a tight 15-10 defeat to Sacred Heart sophomore Andrew Holmes in the final.

Mattos cruised through her first three rounds of play, only ceding more than 10 points once in triumphs over Middlebury College, Rhode Island College and Boston College. She even pulled off a stunning 15-10 upset over Dartmouth College senior Gabrielle Stern to advance to the semifinals. However, she ultimately ran into trouble against All-American junior Kathryn Hawrot from Brown, falling in a close match to earn the bronze.

Foilist Noah Berman '15 also made his way to the semifinals before dropping a close match against Holmes. Foilist Vikki Nunley '14 allowed just two touches from opponents in the first two rounds of the tournament, and from there, secured a key 15-8 win over Boston College sophomore Grace Lisius.

Dartmouth freshman Phoebe Liang stood in her way in the quarterfinals, escaping with a last-second win over Nunley and advancing into the next round.

Coach Shipman later stated that he was impressed with the squads' overall performance in such a competitive field.

"Overall, our fencers exceeded expectations," he said. "We knew we had people in the finals that had a chance to win and our first-year fencers did incredibly well."

The impressive performances did not end there for the Judges.

Several saberists ended up competing against one another in what proved to be an all-Brandeis affair. Ochs-Willard advanced to the quarterfinals, but at a cost, securing a 15-14 win over fellow saberist Ben Loft '15. Loft, before that match, had knocked out Eric Shen '16 in a 15-11 win.

The ?(c)p?(c)e squads also featured a pair of successes. Ari Feingersch '16 won his first five matches, including a 15-14 win over a Massachusetts Institute of Technology foe. However, the Engineers were able to top Feingersch the second time around, resulting in a sixth-place finish for the sophomore.
Kristin Ha '14 proved to be one of the biggest surprises in the field, knocking off the No. 7 and No. 10 seeds in the tournament to reach the quarterfinals.

While Shipman certainly had a lot to be proud of after a successful first meet, he believes that there is room for tactical improvements moving forward.

"As we prepare for our next meet, we want to have each fencer make his or her own individual improvements," he explained. "However, we also will look for tactical and technical improvements in our next few matches."

Shipman has set his sights on topping Brown, MIT and Sacred Heart-three of the best squads in the region.

"Brown and Sacred Heart particularly are very strong from top to bottom but I think we can pull off some key upsets and step up to the challenge," he said.

The squads will have the opportunity to do just that at the Northeast Conference Meet at Brown University on Friday, Nov. 16.
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