St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
National Squad Championships
Recap of U.S. Squad Championships and Temple Invitational
2/28/2012 12:00:00 AM | Fencing
Feb. 28, 2012
QUEENS, N.Y. - A day after squaring off against five top-ranked schools at the Temple Invitational in Philadelphia, Pa., the Red Storm hit the strip at NYU in downtown Manhattan for the U.S. Collegiate Squad Championships. Five of the six St. John's squads competed at the championships, and all five medaled with the men's epee team taking home the gold.
ST. JOHN'S CLEANS UP AT U.S. COLLEGIATE SQUAD CHAMPIONSHIPS
On Sunday, Feb. 28, the Red Storm made their first appearance at the second-annual U.S. Collegiate Squad Championships. With just women's saber missing from action, all five squads that participated placed in the top-three. The men's team placed second overall in a field of 20 schools.
Eight of the 20 men's teams that competed are currently ranked in the top-10 and eight of the 19 women's teams that competed were also top-10 squads.
St. John's started the day off strong with a first place finish by the top-seeded men's epee squad. In a 16-team bracket, men's epee defeated all four of their opponents by a double-digit margin. Led by men's team captain, senior Marat Israelian, epee handed losses to No. 16 Stevens Tech and No. 8 Brown to reach a semifinal matchup against No. 4 Ohio State. Israelian and the epee squad defeated the Buckeyes, who own the No. 1 overall men's team ranking in the Coaches Poll, by score of 43-33 to advance to the finals against No. 2 Princeton. Isrealian, fellow senior Nicholas Vomero, junior Adam Watson, and sophomore Andrew Dobbie maintained the lead throughout the match en route to a 45-32 win and a gold medal.
Women's foil was the second squad to finish competition and they did so with a bronze medal. In a field of 17 teams, No. 4 women's foil prevailed over No. 13 Johns Hopkins in the table of 16 after receiving a first round bye. In their pool of 8 match against Penn, women's foil trailed, 25-26, with time expiring. However, team captain junior Evgeniya Kirpicheva stepped in and tied the match as time expired. In overtime, Kirpicheva landed the winning touch to give St. John's a 32-31 victory. They finished tied for third place after Notre Dame ended their run in the semifinals by a score of 28-26.
In an 18-team field, the No. 2 men's foil team also captured a bronze medal. The all-sophomore squad handedly defeated No. 15 Johns Hopkins, 45-9, and No. 10 Brandeis, 45-18, to reach a semifinal match against No. 3 Notre Dame. Men's foil led, 21-19, at one point, but quickly fell into a, 27-35, deficit. However, sophomore Max Blitzer stepped in and went 12-5 to bring men's foil within one touch of tying the match. Trailing 39-40, sophomore Eli Schenkel entered and tied the score at 44-44, but could not get the final touch. Men's foil lost to Notre Dame, 45-44, and finished tied for third.
In a 19-team field, the largest at the event, No. 1 women's epee picked up victories over No. 16 Stevens Tech and No. 8 Yale before being eliminated by No. 4 Northwestern, 45-39, in the semifinals. Led by sophomore Alina Ferdman, women's epee finished tied for third place.
Even without senior Daryl Homer, who is redshirting this season in preparation for the 2012 Olympics in London, the men's saber squad received the No. 2 seed in a field of 16 teams. Led by senior Alejandro Rojas and junior Sean Buckley, men's saber picked up wins over No. 16 Haverford and No. 10 Brandeis to reach the semifinals. They were defeated by No. 3 Penn, 45-31, but finished tied for third place.
Summary of Results
Men's epee - 1st place
Men's foil - 3rd place
Men's saber - 3rd place
Women's epee - 3rd place
Women's foil - 3rd place
Women's saber - Did Not Compete
TEMPLE INVITATIONAL - MEN'S RESULTS
On Saturday at Temple, the No. 3 men's team went 3-1, besting No. 2 Penn State, No. 7 Penn, and No. 8 Duke. Their only loss came against No. 4 Princeton.
The Red Storm's 16-11 victory over the Nittany Lions was their second win against Penn State this season. The Nittany Lions, the No. 1 ranked team in the first edition of the Coaches Poll, also fell to the Red Storm on Jan. 21 at the St. John's Invitational.
Sophomore foilist Max Blitzer was 3-0 against Penn State and finished the day with a 10-2 record. Blitzer, who led the men's team in wins at the event, was also undefeated against Duke and Penn.
The largest margin of victory for the men's team came against the Blue Devils, whom they defeated, 19-8. The second largest came against the Quakers, whom they defeated, 17-10.
Princeton, who swept the Temple Invitational by going a combined 8-0, defeated St. John's, 15-12.
The epee squad, led by junior Adam Watson, had the most success at Temple, outscoring its opponents in three of its four matches. Watson went 8-1 on the day and led men's epee in wins.
The St. John's men's team is now 15-4 on the season.
Men's Team Results
#3 St. John's def. #8 Duke, 19-8 (Saber 4-5, Foil 8-1, Epee 7-2)
#3 St. John's def. #7 Penn, 17-10 (Saber 5-4, Foil 6-3, Epee 6-3)
#4 Princeton def. #3 St. John's, 15-12 (Saber 4-5, Foil 4-5, Epee 4-5)
#3 St. John's def. #2 Penn State, 16-11 (Saber 5-4, Foil 4-5, Epee 7-2)
TEMPLE INVITATIONAL - WOMEN'S RESULTS
The No. 5 women's team struggled at Temple, going 1-3 on the day. Their one win came against Duke, whom they defeated 14-13.
No. 2 Penn State bested the St. John's women, 14-13, No. 7 Temple handed them a 16-11 loss and No. 3 Princeton, who went undefeated at the event, defeated them, 15-12.
The saber team, who was without wins-leader sophomore Anna Limbach, was outscored 28-8 by its opponents. This past weekend, Limbach was competing with the German National Team at the London World Cup for Olympic qualification points. She placed 30th in a field of 149 fencers.
The epee squad fared the best at Temple, outscoring its opponents 23-13. Sophomore Alina Ferdman went 9-2 on the day, including a 3-0 performance against Princeton.
Junior foilist Evgeniya Kirpicheva, who went 10-2, led the women's squad in wins on the day. The women's team captain was undefeated against the Nittany Lions and the Blue Devils.
The women's team is now 13-7 on the season.
Women's Team Results
#5 St. John's def. Duke, 14-13 (Saber 1-8, Foil 7-2, Epee 6-3)
#7 Temple def. #5 St. John's, 16-11 (Saber 2-7, Foil 4-5, Epee 5-4)
#3 Princeton def. #5 St. John's, 15-12 (Saber 2-7, Foil 4-5, Epee 6-3)
#2 Penn State def. #5 St. John's, (Saber 2-7, Foil 7-2, Epee 4-5)
MORE ON OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION
Red Storm fencing alumnus Dagmara Wozniak also competed this weekend at the London World Cup, but for Team USA. Wozniak bested her U.S. teammate, the world's top-ranked saber fencer Mariel Zagunis, to place eighth. Wozniak earned 14 world ranking points which allows her to hold on to her #13 spot in the Adjusted Olympic Rankings and the top position in the American Zone Rankings.
To stay current on the Red Storm fencing program, follow us on Twitter: @STJ_Fencing and use the hashtag: #stjfencing.
Players Mentioned
