CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – The 2023 ACC Fencing Championship concluded in a story book fashion with both the women’s and men’s team claiming the conference crowns.
This is the 26th ACC title for the men and on the women’s side the 17th title. This is the seventh ACC Championship the Irish have won.
The women’s MVP Award was given to Nicole Pustilnik after winning the individual foil title on Saturday. Luke Linder was awarded the men’s MVP after winning the sabre title.
WOMEN’S TEAM
The women’s team claimed their title after taking down Boston College 24-3, North Carolina 20-7, and Duke 19-8.
The Irish found themselves in a winning position in every match as they never gave up more than seven wins. In their opening match against Boston College, the epee squad had a perfect showing after going 9-0. They never gave up more than three touches for Amanda Pirkowski, Michaela Joyce, and Miriam Grady to help the Irish to a win. Foil only gave up one loss but Paige Luong, Nicole Pustilnik, and Rebeca Candescu strung together eight straight victories for their win. Sabre only allowed two losses but Atara Greenbaum, Neve Harrison, and Jadeyn Williams put together five straight wins to seal the Notre Dame victory.
The second match against North Carolina started slow until the Irish picked up a couple of wins to put them on pace for a 20-7 win. Pirkowski, Joyce and Grady picked up a 6-3 record along with teammates Karina Yaroshenko, Luong, Pustilinik, and Candescu also picked up six wins on the foil squad. Sabre picked up another eight wins from Harrison, Greenbaum and Williams. The Duke matchup was a back and forth match up until the Irish hit the magic number of 14 wins to clinch their seventh title. The fourteenth win was picked up by Greenbaum in a 5-2 win.
The foil squad finished the day with a 7-2 record thanks to Yaroshenko, Candescu, and Luong. Sabre finished picking up six wins from Greenbaum, Harrison, and Williams. Epee tallied a six win record with Pirkowski, Joyce and Grady finishing the day to clinch the title.
MEN’S TEAM
The men’s team completed the clean sweep after they beat Duke 18-9, Boston College 21-6, and in the final match North Carolina 22-5.
In the matchup against Duke, the foil squad took eight wins thanks to Paulo Morais, Philip Dority, Jack Oursler and Ethan Augustine. The foil squad put themselves and the Irish in a winning position, as sabre picked up six wins and epee took seven. Sabre found themselves winning after Sean Moon, Henry Nadile, and George Bivins all tallied wins. On the epee squad, their seven wins came from Nick Candela, Jonathan Hamilton-Meikle, Noah Silvers, and Hunter Candreva. As they all collected their wins, the Irish took the win at 18-9.
The Irish took an incredibly commanding win from both Boston College and North Carolina in their final two matchups of the day. In the win over the Eagles sabre dominated with a 9-0 finish. Nadile, Moon and Bivins started out strong to help the Irish to their victory. Epee also had a commanding victory as they finished 7-2 with help from Candela, Silvers, Candreva and Hamilton-Meikle. Foil had a bit closer of a matchup but the Irish finished on top with a 5-4 record thanks to Morais, Oursler, Dority, and Augustine.
The final match of the day against North Carolina was a tight start until the Irish pulled away with wins from the sabre squad. Moon, Linder and Bivins finished 7-2 against the Tar Heels. Epee picked up eight wins en route to the conference title with help from Candreva, Candela, and Hamilton-Meikle, but it didn’t stop there as foil picked up seven more wins to seal the title. Augustine, Dority, and Oursler finished with a 7-2 record.
The Irish will now turn their focus to preparing for the NCAA Midwest Regional to qualify for the NCAA National Championship. The NCAA Midwest Regional will take place on March 11.