WALTHAM, Mass. (January 27, 2024) – Sophomore Andrew Yurovchak recorded a team-high nine wins as No. 5 Stevens Institute of Technology men's fencing posted a 2-3 record Saturday at the Eric Sollee Invitational, hosted by Brandeis University at the Gosman Athletic Center.

Junior Colin Mahoney totaled eight wins and first-year Riley Parker finished with a career-high seven wins for the Ducks, who defeated Brown and Hunter, while falling to Boston College, No. 3 Brandeis and No. 4 MIT. Saturday's slate featured two ranked opponents and a pair of opponents from Division I. Three of the Ducks' five duals were decided by a single point.

The Ducks began the day with a 16-11 setback to Boston College. The five-point defeat was the Ducks' fourth straight to the Eagles and marked the largest losing margin of the day. A narrow 14-13 loss to hosting Brandeis followed before the Ducks posted consecutive victories over Brown (14-13) and Hunter (25-2) to even their record at 2-2. The squad's second one-point loss of the day wrapped up the event as MIT came away with a 14-13 win for the Engineers' third straight win over the Ducks. The decisive win over the Hawks was Stevens' 31st straight over Hunter. 

The event is held annually in honor and recognition of the longtime former MIT head fencing coach.

The Rundown

• The day began with Boston College squeaking by the Ducks at both epee and foil, winning both weapons by identical 5-4 margins, before posting a 6-3 mark at sabre to win the dual. Yurovchak posted a 2-1 record against the Eagles, while Mahoney and junior Thomas Cheng (season debut) also went 2-1. First-year Cyrus Erachshaw joined Parker, junior Nicholas Smith, sophomore Nick Reznick and junior Rocco Mathews in posting one win. 
• The epee team posted an impressive 7-2 mark against Brandeis. Yurovchak was a perfect 3-0, while Smith and Parker each went 2-1. The Ducks dropped a narrow 5-4 score at sabre, with Mahoney and junior John Morreale each posting a pair of wins. The Judges were able to secure the dual at foil, posting a 7-2 margin, with Cheng and Mathews accounting for the Ducks' wins. The Ducks and the Judges have split their last four meetings.
• Stevens captured its first win of the day with a 14-13 victory over Brown. The Bears had an 8-1 win at foil, but the Ducks captured the other two weapons to win the dual. Mahoney and Erachshaw combined for three wins, while graduate student Dylan Woodward went a perfect 3-0 as the sabreists went 6-3. Over at foil. Parker, Yurovchak and graduate student James Morris combined for a perfect 5-0 record, while Smith added a pair of wins. Stevens has won three of the last four meetings with Brown.
• Stevens won all three weapons against Hunter for the lopsided victory. Sophomore James Glover joined classmate Aden Vishnevsky, Erachshaw, first-year Tyler Kometani, senior Christopher Stone, graduate student James Morris, senior Caleb Romero and sophomore Yash Yagnik in posting a perfect record against the Hawks.
• Against MIT, each of the three weapons were decided by a single point. Stevens posted a 5-4 margin at foil, with Glover and Mathews each going 2-1, with Reznick recording the additional victory. However, MIT was able to reverse the score and post 5-4 wins at both epee and sabre to win the dual with Mahoney and Yurovchak each winning twice to pace their respective weapons.
• In terms of individual wins, Smith and Erachshaw each finished competition with six wins, while Glover had five. Mathews and Woodward closed the day with four wins, while Yagnik, Kometani, Stone, Cheng, Vishnevsky and Reznick each contributed three. First-year Liam Thomas had a pair of wins against Hunter, as did Morris and junior Jose Martinez-Ponce, while Morreale had two versus Brandeis. Romero went 1-1 on the day to account for the Ducks' victories on the day. 

Top Performers

• Collectively, the epee group posted the best mark of the day, finishing with a 30-15 record. Sabre was close behind with a 26-19 mark, while the foilists went 20-25. As a team, despite a losing mark in the team duals, Stevens finished an impressive 76-59 (.563) on the day.
• Within the weapon groups, the sabre team went 3-2, posting decisive wins over Brandeis, Brown and Hunter. The sabre squad topped both Brown and Hunter, while the foil team defeated Hunter and MIT.

Coach's Comments

• "I was really proud of how the men fought today; even though we had two tough 14-13 losses, we performed so much better at this event than we did last year. I was especially impressed with first-year Reilly Parker, who finished with seven wins in his first time starting." – head coach Jim Carpenter

Up Next

• Stevens returns to the strip in one week's time, hosting the MACFA Group B Round Robin inside Canavan Arena on Feb. 4. The event marks the first of two home meets for the Ducks and is the second conference event for the program.

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