Fencing Teams Fare Well At Annual Beanpot Tournament

Attempting to head into the postseason on a strong note, the Boston College men's and women's fencing teams took on three local schools in the 2012 Fencing Beanpot Tuesday night at Harvard. Rather than the traditional hockey Beanpot quartet, both Eagles squads took on a trio of Harvard, Brandeis, and MIT. The men emerged from the round robin tournament with a 1-2 record, and the Lady Eagles were able to net victories in two of their three bouts.

Taking on Harvard, which boasts the No. 3 ranked men's and No. 7 women's team, both teams were unable to secure the victory against the eventual victors of the tournament. The pedigree of a Harvard squad that was resting its starter took the day, claiming each weapon bout on both sides by at least three and taking both matches by identical 20-7 final scores.

"Losing to Harvard wasn't unexpected or a backbreaker on either side," said senior captain Peter Souders, who posted the men's team's strongest performance of the day with a personal 7-2 record in bouts.

Against Brandeis, the men's epee, consisting of Albert Shawshak, Nikhil Patel, and Brian Like, was able to garner a 6-3 victory. The judges posted strong results in both the sabre and foil bouts, posting wins of 7-2 and 4-5 respectively, to claim the match by a score of 17-12. The BC women were more successful, earning a victory highlighted by a 6-3 win from the epee squad of Amy Beraducci, Cara Hall, and Anabel Young.

"I'm very proud of how the epee squad performed," Beraducci said. "I think the squad, as a whole, has been experiencing some confidence problems this year, but I didn't see any of that yesterday. We stepped on strip with a positive mindset, and it got us great results."

Looking for a similar confidence booster, the men's team found success later in its match against MIT. The Eagles won all three weapons for a vindicating victory over the Engineers, who narrowly defeated BC earlier in the season. Both the sabre (Souders, Denis McGovern, Jr., and Devin Midgley) and epee claimed 6-3 wins over the Engineers. The foil squad had its best performance of the day in a thorough 7-2 victory, with freshman Ryan Prince and sophomore Pat Riley both going 3-0.

"Getting a second shot at [MIT], and putting up a big number the way we did was definitely a good feeling," Souders commented.

Similarly, the women were able to secure a winning record for the Beanpot with resounding triumphs in all three weapons against MIT, led by a foil squad that dominated its way to a 7-2 victory that included an impressive 3-0 showing in foil by freshman standout Ryan Western.

For a team looking for confidence, Tuesday night's showing should provide it in no short amount to a women's team that will be seeking its second straight New England Championship in less than two weeks. The men will join them in their hunt to repeat as regional champions.

"I think we're in a good spot heading into championship season," Souders said. "If we can get our energy going from the first bout, then we should be very competitive in the coming weeks."

While both teams were unable to prove they were in the same class as Harvard, each squad took away a good amount of self-confidence in the victories they earned. Whether they can turn that self-confidence into conquests when the lights are brightest, during New England's and NCAA qualifiers, will show their true mettle.