Arch-rival Penn St. arrives to take on fencers
By MIKE CONNOLLY
Associate Sports Editor
Every good rivalry inspires a bit of dislike between the two teams.
The Notre Dame and Penn State fencing rivalry inspires a lot more than dislike.
"I don't know about the rivalry very much except for last year, but apparently we hate them," junior sabrewoman Katie Flanagan said. "We not only want to win, we want to whip them and completely crush them especially at our home meet."
The animosity between the two squads is easy to understand. For the past four years, Penn State has finished first while Notre Dame has taken second in the NCAA championships. Every year the Irish seem ready to finally knock the Nittany Lions from the top of the mountain, but every year the Lions retain the title.
According to head coach Yves Auriol, the men's squad has an excellent chance of defeating Penn State in this weekend's dual meet.
"On the men's side, we lost to Penn State by one point last year at Penn State, 14-13 [in the regular season dual meet]," Auriol said. "It was very close last year with a team that wasn't as good as we are this year. If they fence the way they are capable of they can defeat Penn State. If we do not defeat Penn State, I will be very disappointed."
The men's team started the season slowly at NYU last weekend. Losing to St. John's and Stanford, Notre Dame stumbled to a 2-2 start.
The sabre squad's performance was especially disappointing. Featuring sophomore Gabor Szelle, last year's NCAA sabre runner-up, and nationally ranked fencers like sophomore Andre Crompton, junior Andre Bednarski and freshman Matt Fabricant, the squad was thought to be the No. 1 sabre squad in the country. After losing to St. John's 6-3, however, the Irish must regroup this weekend against the Nittany Lions.
"I want to make sure that they know that we went to New York as the No. 1 sabre team and that they fell flat on their face because they might have been overconfident," Auriol said. "I want to make sure that doesn't happen again this weekend.
"They don't have any excuse now," he continued. "They can make the finals in national and international tournaments. Now it is time to fence better here. They won't get any sympathy from the coaches if they don't fence well, but I think they will fence better this weekend."
The men's epee team is another squad that struggled against St. John's last weekend. With No. 1-ranked junior epeeist Jan Viviani added to 1999 NCAA qualifiers James Gaither and Brian Casas, the epee squad was expected to be one of the leaders of this year's team. After falling to St. John's 7-2, the squad must improve against a Nittany Lion squad that features Brendan Baby who went 3-0 against the Irish last year.
The men's foil team is young — featuring two freshmen and a sophomore as starters — but held its own last weekend. Freshmen Ozren Debic and Forest Walton tallied seven and eight wins respectively.
Auriol has lower expectations for the women's team this weekend.
"It would be a surprise for me if we beat Penn State on the women's side," he said. "Penn State is very strong."
While Penn State is a powerful team, Notre Dame proved last weekend it can compete with the very best. The women went 4-0 against top competition like St. John's — one of the favorites for the 2000 national title.
The women rely on four freshmen to pick up key victories. At epee, Meagan Call and Anna Carnick are 1-2 in wins so far. Call's nine wins have caught Auriol's attention.
"Our freshmen are very talented," he said. "I was very impressed with Meagan Call in epee. She is not really an epee yet. She is still learning the weapon. She is a tough competitor and she continuing to improve."
At sabre, freshman Natalia Mazur leads the team with 10 wins with juniors Carrianne McCullough and Flanagan right behind her with nine and eight wins, respectively.
The foil team features freshman Liza Boutsikaris, who is second on the squad with seven wins, and senior Magda Krol, the most experienced female fencer.
Krol, an epee All-American for three years running, led the squad with 10 wins in her first foil bouts since her sophomore year. Krol scored two key wins over 1999 All-American Susan Jennings and 1999 National Champion Monique de Bruin.
Krol faces another stiff test this weekend from Penn State junior Charlotte Walker. Like Krol, Walker switched to foil this year after winning All-American letters the past two years at epee.
"I am excited," Krol said. "This is going to be a test for me but it is going to be good. I think it will be interesting to see how two former epeeists will fence against each other in foil. I am definitely excited to fence against Charlotte Walker and give it my best shot and hopefully win."
The men take to the strips in their first home meet of the year Saturday in the north dome of the JACC while the women fence Sunday.
All Sports Stories for Friday, January 28, 2000
