EVANSTON, Ill. – The Stanford men's saber team extended its winning streak to 10 to start out the season before dropping its series against Notre Dame on Saturday at the Midwest Duals at Northwestern's Ryan Fieldhouse.
Stanford's men's and women's fencing teams each went 3-3 on the first of two days of competition. Each will face four more opponents on Sunday. No tournament champion is named.
Stanford's men are 9-3 overall, and the Cardinal women are 7-6. However, the most successful weapon for Stanford has been the men's saber. The crew went 4-0 to open Saturday's competion, winning against Cleveland State, Wayne State, North Carolina, and Lawrence, to add to a 6-0 mark after the season's first two tournaments.
After the 7-2 saber loss in a 16-11 loss to No. 5 Notre Dame, the saber squad of Samuel Kwong, Noah Matricciani, and Eugene Ko rebounded with a 7-2 victory over Duke inside of a 14-13 overall loss to the Blue Devils.
Noah Matricciani and Calvin Zau also competed in saber on Saturday and Matricciani maintained his team-high winning percentage. After going 6-2 in spot duty, Matricciani is 21-5 for an .807 winning percentage this season.
Lucas Orts, a 2019 All-American, went 8-6 in foil to go to 21-10 this season for a .677 winning percentage.
For the women, Hanna Lee went 14-4 in epee to improve to 29-9 this season for a .763 winning percentage.
Woo Joo Kwon led the foil group to a 4-2 record. Kwon was the only Stanford foil fencer to win at least one bout in all six contests. She went 9-6 on Saturday to improve to 16-17 this season.
The Cardinal women will face four of the top five teams in the country. In bouts Saturday, Stanford lost to No. 3 Notre Dame, 19-8, and No. 5 Temple, 17-10. On Sunday, the Cardinal faces No. 1 Princeton and No. 4 Ohio State.
Performances Sunday also will provide the final chances to build up a resume for an NCAA West Region invitation.
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Midwest Duals
Friday's Stanford results
Men
Record: Stanford 3-3 (saber 5-1, foil 4-2, epee 4-2).
Stanford's scores:
Stanford 22, Cleveland State 5
Stanford 17, Wayne State 10
North Carolina 15, Stanford 12
Stanford 25, Lawrence 2
No. 5 Notre Dame 16, Stanford 11
No. 10 Duke 14, Stanford 13
Sunday's schedule (Pacific time):
Stanford vs. No. 3 Ohio State, 8 a.m.
Stanford vs. Detroit Mercy, 9:10 a.m.
Stanford vs. Northwestern (club), 10:20 a.m.
Stanford vs. No. 6 Princeton, 11:30 a.m.
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Women
Record: Stanford 3-3 (saber 3-3, foil 4-2, epee 3-3).
Stanford's scores:
Stanford 21, Cleveland State 6
No. 5 Temple 17, Stanford 10
Stanford 23, Wayne State 4
Stanford 18, Lawrence 9
No. 3 Notre Dame 19, Stanford 8
Duke 18, Stanford 9
Sunday schedule (Pacific time)
Stanford vs. No. 4 Ohio State, 8 a.m.
Stanford vs. Denver, 9:10 a.m.
Stanford vs. No. 10 Cornell, 10:20 a.m.
Stanford vs. No. 1 Princeton, 11:30 a.m.