On Feb. 1, the Brandeis Judges hosted the Eric Sollee Invitational at the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center. The women’s and men’s teams posted a 7–5 combined record with the women going 4–2 with and the men 3–3. 

The women’s team defeated the Hunter College Hawks 27–0 with scores of sabre nine, foil nine and epee nine; the Stevens Institute of Technology Ducks 16–11 with scores of sabre nine, foil four and epee three; the New Jersey Institute of Technology Highlanders with scores of sabre five, foil six and epee of three; and the Haverford College Squirrels 17–10 with scores of sabre seven, foil six and epee of four. However, the women Judges lost to the University of Pennsylvania Quakers 4–23 with scores of sabre three, foil zero and epee one, and to the New York University Violets 12–15 with scores of sabre seven, foil three and epee two.

Overall for the women, the sabre was their most successful weapon. Highlights included the women’s quick win over the short-handed Hawks with all three weapons. Against the Violets, the women had a convincing 7–2 win in sabre but then suffered losses in both the foil and epee. Again, the women swept their second opponent in the sabre, beating the Ducks 9–0, which helped them in their 16–11 win. Brandeis was successful against the Highlanders, but the score was close. It was Maggie Shealy ’23 who posted a 5–0 win to help the Judges post a 14–13 win.

Individually, the sabre squad was the standout, with top performers including Shealy leading the team with 13 wins and four losses and going 3–0 against the Hawks and the Ducks. Also, a standout in sabre was Jessica Morales ’23 going 11–2 and posting a 3–0 record against the Violets and the Highlanders. Jessica Gets ’20 had nine wins in foil while both Samantha Shortall ’23 and Ivanna Zavalla ’23 each had eight. Jess Spear ’21 was a standout on epee, leading the squad with five epee wins.

The male Judges defeated the Hawks 22–5 with scores of sabre nine, foil eight and epee five; the Highlanders 16–11 with scores of sabre five, foil four and epee seven; and the Squirrels with scores of sabre four, foil four and epee seven. However, the male Judges lost to the Quakers 9–18 with scores of sabre four, foil four and epee one; the Violets 11–16 with scores of sabre three, foils six and epee two; and the Ducks 12–15 with scores of sabre five, foil four and epee three. 

The men, like the women, had a quick win against the short-handed Hawks with a score of 22–5. In their match against the Violets, the men’s foil had a 6-0 lead, but the Violets came back and won the last three bouts, then the Violets epee squad won in overtime to propel them to a 16–11 win over the Judges. The Judges came back from their defeat by the Violets to beat the Highlanders after being down in the sabre 4–2 by winning the final four bouts including a clinching win by Lucas Lin ’22. Individually, Lin led the team with eight wins, including 2–1 against the Violets. Ian Quin ’20 posted a squad-high seven wins including 3–0 against the Quakers and 2–1 against both the Violets and the Ducks. Both Ben Rogak ’23 and Braden Vaccari ’23 had six wins in sabre and epee. 

Next weekend Brandeis travels to Durham, NC for the Duke Invitational.