Feb. 3, 2018
By Joanne Norell
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame men’s and women’s fencing teams put on an impressive show Saturday on the opening day of the Northwestern Duals. The No. 1 women went 7-0 on the day including wins over four ranked teams, while the top-ranked men were 5-0 with two ranked wins.
Junior Amanda Sirico led the women with a 13-1 in epee, while junior foilist Sabrina Massialas (5-0), freshman foilist Stefani Deschner (8-2), sophomore foilist Morgan Partridge (6-3) and senior sabreuse Francesca Russo (8-4) all tallied big wins.
Junior men’s foilist Axel Kiefer exploded to go 9-0 on the day, and freshman foilist Nick Itkin (7-2) and senior sabreur Jonah Shainberg (5-2) also led the Irish.
How It Happened
Pennsylvania (Round 1)
Both Irish men and women opened the day against Penn, with the men posting a 14-13 victory over the seventh-ranked Quakers, while the women prevailed 15-12 over their ninth-ranked opponent.
Junior foilist Axel Kiefer lifted the men’s squad with a 3-0 performance, while sophomore epeeist Ariel Simmons and sabreurs Jonah Shainberg and Arsenii Panteleev went 2-1. For the women, junior foilist Sabrina Massialas and freshman foilist Reghan Ward went 3-0, while senior sabreuse Francesca Russo was 2-0 in the match.
UC San Diego (W) (Round 2)
The Irish women moved to 2-0 in the next round, defeating UC San Diego 19-8. Senior sabreuse Claudia Kulmacz and foilists Samantha Viqueira and Erica Tsai each went 3-0, while junior epeeist Amanda Sirico went 2-0.
Cal Tech (M) (Round 2)
The men’s squad nearly swept Cal Tech in Round 2, winning 26-1 with sweeps in foil and sabre thanks in part to forfeits in the Beavers’ lineup. In epee, Aidan Antekeier and Zachary Zeller also went 3-0 in the match.
Temple (W) (Round 4)
The women’s epee team helped propel the Irish to a 15-12 victory over No. 7 Temple, led by 3-0 performances from Amanda Sirico and Julia Barry. The women’s foil team was 6-3 in the match, with Stefani Deschner, Morgan Partridge and Elyssa Kleiner all going 2-1.
UC San Diego (M) (Round 4)
The men’s foil squad was perfect against the Tritons as Kiefer, Hazem Khazbak and Nick Itkin turned in 3-0 scoresheets. Meanwhile, Panteleev went 2-0 in the match, while Nicholas Hanahan was 2-1 in epee.
Princeton (W) (Round 5)
The Irish had little trouble against the fourth-ranked Tigers, lifted by 3-0 performances from Kleiner, Deschner and Sirico in a 17-10 decision. The women’s foil team was perfect as a squad, as Massialas went 2-0 and Samantha Viqueira was 1-0.
Northwestern (Round 6)
Notre Dame and Northwestern’s No. 8 women’s team fenced to a thrilling 15-12 decision in favor of the Irish, while the Irish men defeated the Wildcat club team 25-2.
After going down 6-10, the women came back with four straight bout wins to knot the score and set up a nail-biting finale. After a slow start, the foil squad rallied to win five of the last six bouts, including Morgan Partridge’s clinching win at 14-12. Squadmate Deschner also went 2-1, as did Barry and freshman Dasha Yefremenko in epee. Sirico was 3-0 to continue a streak of unbeaten matches.
Cal Tech (W) (Round 7)
The Irish cruised past the Beavers, sweeping the foil and sabre categories for a quick 26-1 victory.
Princeton (M) (Round 8)
The men’s team continued its roll with a convincing 20-7 victory over No. 6 Princeton, led by Kiefer and Itkin’s 3-0 marks in foil, while junior Dylan French matched the effort in epee.
Fairleigh Dickinson (W) (Round 8)
The women closed out the day with a 21-6 victory over FDU. Marie-Anne Roche, Beatrice Verrecchia, Christina Boitano, Madeline Gallagher and Natalie Disher all went 3-0.
Northwestern Duals
Feb. 3, 2018
Castellan Family Fencing Center
Notre Dame, Ind.
Men’s Results — Day One
No. 1 Notre Dame 14, No. 7 Penn 13
Epee: (5-4) Ariel Simmons 2-1, Nicholas Hanahan 1-1, Dylan French 1-2, Stephen Ewart 1-0
Foil: (4-5) Axel Kiefer 3-0, Nick Itkin 1-2, Hazem Khazbak 0-2, Joseph Marino 0-1
Sabre: (5-4) Jonah Shainberg 2-1, Arsenii Pantaleev 2-1, Jonathan Fitzgerald 1-1, David Brown 0-1
No. 1 Notre Dame 26, Cal Tech 1
Epee: Aidan Antekeier 3-0, Zachary Zeller 3-0, Zachary Cheng 2-1
Foil: (9-0) Michael Antipas 3-0, Marino 3-0, Robert Wong 3-0
Sabre: (9-0) Ben Scholl 3-0, Blake Murphy 2-0, Paul Cepak 2-0, Jack Rohan 1-0, Ari Croitoru 1-0
No. 1 Notre Dame 18, UC San Diego 9
Epee: (4-5) Hanahan 2-1, Stephen Ewart 2-0, French 0-1, Simmons 0-1, Zeller 0-1, Antekeier 0-1
Foil: (9-0) Kiefer 3-0, Khazbak 3-0, Itkin 3-0
Sabre: (5-4) Panteleev 2-0, Shainberg 1-0, Scholl 1-0, Croitoru 1-1, Brown 0-3
No. 1 Notre Dame 25, Northwestern 2
Epee: (9-0) Antekeier 3-0, Cheng 3-0, Zeller 3-0
Foil: (9-0) Alexander Ju 2-0, Nicholas Sloan 2-0, Antipas 1-0, Wong 1-0, Marino 1-0, Tichacek 1-0, Thomas Murray 1-0
Sabre: (7-2) Scholl 3-0, Croitoru 2-1, Murphy 2-1
No. 1 Notre Dame 20, No. 6 Princeton 7
Epee: (6-3) French 3-0, Simmons 1-2, Ewart 2-1
Foil: (8-1) Kiefer 3-0, Itkin 3-0, Khazbak 2-1
Sabre: (5-4) Shainberg 2-1, Panteleev 2-1, Fitzgerald 1-2
Women’s Results — Day One
No. 1 Notre Dame 15, No. 9 Penn 12
Epee: (3-6) Amanda Sirico 2-1, Julia Barry 1-2, Marie-Anne Roche 0-3
Foil: (6-3) Sabrina Massialas 3-0, Morgan Partridge 2-1, Stefani Deschner 1-0, Elyssa Kleiner 0-2
Sabre: (6-3) Reghan Ward 3-0, Francesca Russo 2-0, Claudia Kulmacz 1-1, Regina O’Brien 0-1, Jamie Norville 0-1
No. 1 Notre Dame 19, UC San Diego 8
Epee: (4-5) Sirico 2-0, Barry 2-1, Roche 0-1, Katherine Clarke 0-1, Dasha Yefremenko 0-1, Katherine Wallace 0-1
Foil: (8-1) Samantha Viqueira 3-0, Erica Tsai 3-0, Isabelle Elizondo 2-1
Sabre: (7-2) Kulmacz 3-0, Russo 1-0, Natalie Disher 2-1, Christina Boitano 1-1
No. 1 Notre Dame 15, No. 7 Temple 12
Epee: (7-2) Sirico 3-0, Barry 3-0, Roche 1-1, Yefremenko 0-1
Foil: (6-3) Partridge 2-1, Deschner 2-1, Kleiner 2-1
Sabre: (2-7) Russo 1-2, Ward 1-2, Kulmacz 0-3
No. 1 Notre Dame 17, No. 4 Princeton 10
Epee: (3-6) Sirico 3-0, Barry 0-3, Roche 0-3
Foil: (9-0) Kleiner 3-0, Deschner 3-0, Massialas 2-0, Viqueira 1-0
Sabre: (5-4) Russo 2-1 Ward 2-1, Norville 1-0, Kulmacz 0-2
No. 1 Notre Dame 15, No. 8 Northwestern 12
Epee: (7-2) Sirico 3-0, Barry 2-1, Yefremenko 2-1
Foil: (5-4) Deschner 2-1, Partridge 2-1, Viqueira 1-2
Sabre: (3-6) Russo 2-1, O’Brien 1-0, Ward 0-2, Kulmacz 0-2, Norville 0-1
No. 1 Notre Dame 26, Cal Tech 1
Epee: (8-1) Roche 3-0, Wallace 3-0, Clarke 2-1
Foil: (9-0) Tsai 2-0, Elizondo 2-0, Mari Summers 2-0, Reagan Fitzgerald 1-0, Beatrice Verrecchia 1-0, Nicole Gorman 1-0
Sabre: (9-0) Disher 3-0, Madeline Gallagher 3-0, Boitano 3-0
No. 1 Notre Dame 21, Fairleigh Dickinson 6
Epee: (7-2) Roche 3-0, Clarke 2-1, Wallace 2-1
Foil: (5-4) Verrecchia 3-0, Gorman 1-2, Fitzgerald 1-2
Sabre: (9-0) Disher 3-0, Gallagher 3-0, Boitano 3-0
–ND–
Joanne Norell, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2014 and coordinates communications efforts for the Notre Dame men’s tennis and fencing programs, in addition to assisting with football communications and overseeing production of the football Gameday Magazine. Norell is a 2011 graduate of Purdue University and earned her master’s degree from Georgetown University in 2013.