Men's Fencing Closes Out Penn Invitational 5-0

Saturday, January 10

Philadelphia, Pa.

All Day

Duke University

Philadelphia Invitational

Men's Fencing Closes Out Penn Invitational 5-0

1/12/2009 12:00:00 AM | Fencing

By: Duke Sports Information

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. ? The Duke men's fencing team went undefeated on Sunday, Jan. 12, at the Philadelphia Invitational Multi Meet, to follow a 3-3 outing by the women's team on Saturday in Hutchinson Gym at the University of Pennsylvania.

The Duke men (5-0) beat all five opponents at the season-opening tournament, topping UNC 16-11, Drew 22-5, Sacred Heart 21-6, Johns Hopkins 20-7 and New Jersey Science and Technology (NJIT) 26-1. Both the men's foil and epee teams went 5-0 as well, while the saber team finished 4-1 with their only loss being a 5-4 defeat against North Carolina.

Three Blue Devils also went undefeated individually at the tournament with freshman saber and 2008 Olympic Bronze Medalist Becca Ward compiling a team-best 18-0 record in her first official collegiate meet. Senior captain Peter Truszkowski also finished 15-0 in men's saber action, while foil teammate Eliot Cohen went 9-0.

Ward helped the women's saber squad finish 6-0 while outscoring the opposition 38-16 on Saturday. The crew of Ward, Ashley Donald, Jessica Hancock and Margot Mausner swept Drew 9-0, topped Fairleigh Dickinson 8-1 and defeated Drew 6-3 before holding out for three straight 5-4 wins against Temple, Northwestern and North Carolina.

Backed by the 6-0 effort from the saber squad and a 4-2 day from the foil team, the women went 3-3 on the day with a 23-4 win over Fairleigh Dickinson, a 16-11 win over Sacred Heart and a 21-6 triumph over Drew. The foil squad finished 4-2 with a 9-0 win against Drew, a 7-2 victory against Sacred Heart, a 6-3 win over Fairleigh Dickinson and a 5-4 victory over Temple. The group, composed of Dana Rosen, Allison Putterman, Noel Shaskan and Sasha Stein, outscored the opposition 32-22.

Duke's epee team of Nicole Bloom, Erin Pytel and Jenny Kim also logged a 9-0 win in the opening bout against Fairleigh Dickinson.

In addition to Ward and Truszkowski, seven other Blue Devils racked up 10 or more individual wins at the meet. On the men's side, that includes freshman foil Dan Cohen (12-1), sophomore foil Dorian Cohen (10-2), senior saber Loki Stewart (12-2) and freshmen epees Tristan Jones (10-2) and Jonathan Parker (10-3). From the women's team, freshman saber Ashley Donald (11-6) and sophomore foil Allison Putterman (10-5) also finished with double-digit wins.

Freshman epee Sam Schack (6-5), freshman foil Nikola Lahcanski (8-3) and junior saber David Eitel (5-4) also logged winning marks, as did freshman foil Dana Rosen (9-6), senior foil Sasha Stein (8-5) and junior saber Jessica Hancock (8-5).

Next up for the Blue Devils is a trip to Princeton, N.J., where they will compete in the Princeton Dual Meet on Jan. 24.

Duke Fencing Results

Philadelphia Invitational Multi Meet

January 12, 2009

Hutchinson Gym (University of Pennsylvania)

Duke Men's Team: 5-0

Duke V16 - UNC D11

Duke V22 - Drew D5

Duke V21 - Sacred Heart D6

Duke V20 - Johns Hopkins D7

Duke V26 - NJIT D1

Men's Foil: 5-0