Thrilling finale helps lead Notre Dame to first NCAA title since 1994
MATT LOZAR
Associate Sports Editor
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.
Finally.
After eight years of disappointing second and third-place finishes, the Irish used a total team effort to win the 2003 NCAA Championship with 182 points this weekend at the Air Force Academy. Penn State, who qualified only 11 fencers, finished second with 179 and St. John's finished third with 171 despite having only 10 fencers.
"It feels great. It's amazing," Notre Dame sabre Matt Fabricant said. "Three years of trying and to finally get it in your senior year is great."
What made the day even more stressful was the fact the title wasn't officially decided until the final round of womens foil. With all other weapons completed, the Irish possessed a 178-174 lead over the Nittany Lions. Notre Dame needed a combination of three Notre Dame wins and Penn State losses to clinch their first title since 1994.
"I couldn't even watch. I was just sitting there waiting for someone to scream and then turn around," Fabricant said. "I was really nervous."
Sophomore Alicja Kryczalo dropped her first bout to Eva Petschnigg of Stanford and Andrea Ament made the hearts beat faster, losing to Stanford's Iris Zimmerman.
Ament recovered to defeat Cal-State Fullerton's Senta Breden to give the Irish 179 points. A Penn State loss brought the Irish within one.
To win the title, Kryczalo needed to defeat Zimmerman. Kryczalo dropped the first point, but came back to win the next two. Tied at three, Kryczalo won the next two points to give the Irish the title.
While Fabricant's stomach was full of butterflies, epeeist Jan Viviani had total confidence in Notre Dame's "A-Team."
"I think we had a lot of confidence in them and it was really exciting to have them in control of what happens," Viviani said. "For us, it was exciting waiting. I wasn't really nervous, but waiting for the moment to actually happen."
Ament and Kryczalo finished in the top four after the round-robin bouts and claimed first-team All-American honors for the second straight year. Ament took third while Kryczalo defeated Zimmerman 15-13 to become the first woman in Notre Dame fencing history to repeat as national champion.
"She is a great fencer and is one of the best in the world," Notre Dame coach Janusz Bednarski said of Kryczalo. "It is a great feeling of satisfaction and we are proud of her winning the gold medal again."
Michal Sobieraj rebounded from a 10th place finish at the 2002 NCAA Championships and was in first place after pool play with a 20-3 record. Sobieraj lost 8-7 to Weston Kelsey in the mens epee championship bout to end up second.
Overall, Notre Dame had a school-record 11 All-Americans. Seniors Ozren Debic and Jan Viviani earned the honor for the fourth time and became the 11th and 12th fencers in Notre Dame history to earn that distinction.
Sophomore foilist Derek Snyder finished fifth and earned second-team All-American honors for the second year. Junior sabre Destanie Milo improved on finishes of 17th and 18th in her first two years and became an All-American for the first time with a sixth place finish.
Notre Dame had two All-Americans at mens sabre and womens epee. Fabricant and Gabor Szelle finished sixth and 11th, respectively. Junior Kerry Walton and senior Meagan Call recovered from rough starts on day one to take fifth and 10th.
The Irish set the goal from day one to win the team national title after last year's disappointing third place finish. When they had the advantage of 12 fencers compared to Penn State's 11, that was the final piece of motivation necessary.
"Coming into this year, I knew that like any other year, and we were going to end up in the top three. A couple of bouts separating us from Penn State," Debic said. "After the qualifiers, I knew that we had the man advantage. If we put our heads together, we could get it done."
And get it done they did.
All Sports Stories for Monday, March 24, 2003
