No. 2 Notre Dame looking to dethrone No. 1 Stanford
By MIKE CONNOLLY
Sports Writer
In its toughest test of the season since the opening weekend, the Notre Dame fencing team travels to Duke this weekend to face several national powers.
"That is going to be just as tough as our first week in New York," sabreman Gabor Szelle said about the meet against Stanford, Duke, Air Force, North Carolina and Ohio State.
The men are currently ranked second in the country and will look to bounce the Cardinal from its No. 1 perch.
Jan Viviani said head coach Yves Auriol expects the men's team to go undefeated this year. The Cardinal are likely the only team standing between the Irish and a perfect record. The Irish have won 36 matches in a row dating back to 1999.
"I don't think we are by far the best men's team but I think we are one of the best," Viviani said.
The Cardinal is led by its foil squad which features 2000 NCAA Champion Felix Reichling and All-American Alex Woods. Reichling defeated Notre Dame All-American Ozren Debic in the finals of the 2000 championship, 15-10. Since that loss, Debic has won 29 of his last 30 bouts.
Stanford also features All-American sabreman Robert Owens and All-American epeeost Eric Tribett but the Irish boast the best sabre squad in the country according to Auriol. Led by 2000 NCAA Champion Szelle and All-American Andrzej Bednarski, the sabre squad has cruised to easy victories against even the best competition. The squad features four strong fencers. In additon to Szelle and Bednarski, Andre Crompton and Matt Fabricant also have All-American potential but only two fencers from each school can qualify for NCAAs and earn All-American status.
Stanford's women's team is strong as well. The seventh-ranked Irish will look to pull of another upset this weekend against the No. 3 Cardinal. On the last to weekends, the Irish have upset Northwestern.
The Irish have improved greatly since their 1-3 weekend to open the season, according to foilist Liza Boutsikaris.
"I think we are more experienced," she said. "We know what to expect. A lot of people just started traveling with us this year. Now they know what to expect."
Against the Cardinal, Boutsikaris should expect her toughest test of the year. The NCAA 2000 champion, Monique DeBruin, leads the Stanford women.
While none of the other schools are as strong as Stanford, the Irish will face several tough individual fencers from Ohio State this weekend.
Ohio State features a pair of strong men's epeeists in Geoff Kane and Alan Jones as well as All-American women's foilist Fane Groes.
All Sports Stories for Friday, February 9, 2001
