PHILADELPHIA – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish fencing team opened the 2024-25 season in fine fashion at the Elite Invitational hosted by Penn University on Sunday. Both the men’s and women’s teams went undefeated, posting records of 5-0 on the day.
Both squads defeated defeated Princeton, Air Force, Stanford, Ohio State and Penn to start the season perfect.
The women’s epee squad led the way for Notre Dame, posting an outstanding 39-6 record. On the men’s side the sabre team highlighted the performance with a mark of 32-13.
Fresh off her bronze medal performance in the Paris Olympics, Eszter Muhari was dominant in her first action back at the collegiate level. The junior went undefeated with a record of 14-0 on the day to pace the women’s epee squad. Muhari’s epee teammate Kaylin Hsieh was just as impressive, going unbeaten with a mark of 12-0.
On the men’s side Noah Silvers recorded a perfect start to the season in men’s epee, going 8-0. Freshman Ahmed Hesham had a memorable collegiate debut, posting a mark of 13-2 on Sunday in sabre to help the Irish go unbeaten on the day.
The women wasted no time making a statement, as they defeated Princeton by a score of 22-5 to open the year. The Irish recorded an 8-1 win in epee while both foil and sabre posted 7-2 scores. On the men’s side the team opened up the season with an 18-9 victory over Princeton.
Both the women and men followed with their most lopsided wins on Sunday, as the women defeated Air Force 24-3 and the men took down the academy by a mark of 21-6.
The Irish carried the momentum into the third matchup of the day against new ACC foe Stanford on both the women’s and men’s side. Notre Dame made quick work of the Cardinal as the women picked up a 23-4 win and the men notched a 20-7 decision. Women’s epee and men’s sabre were the standouts in the match, as each went 9-0.
In the fourth match of the day the women defeated Ohio State 19-8 while the men dispatched of the Buckeyes 16-11. All three weapons on both the women’s and men’s sides won their rounds in the matchup against the Big Ten opponent.
The final match on Sunday proved to be the most competitive for both the women and the men, as the Irish faced the hosts Penn. The women battled the Quakers to a 16-11 win, as Muhari and Hsieh each went 3-0 in epee to propel the team to the win. The men pulled out a 15-12 victory over Penn, as the foil team highlighted the round with a 6-3 decision, including a 3-0 mark from Chase Emmer.
The Fighting Irish men’s and women’s team are back in action on Saturday, Jan. 18 in Jamaica, New York, at the St. John’s Invitational.