ND finds success in N.Y.

The Irish travelled to the Big Apple this weekend to take part in the NYU Invitational on Saturday, with the No. 4 men finishing 5-1 and the No. 3 women finishing 4-2. In the St. John’s Invitational on Sunday, Notre Dame’s men placed second behind Columbia while the women took third.

In men’s epee, sophomore Connor McGrath led the way in an unblemished day for the squad, whose 5-0 record included a narrow 5-4 win over sixth-ranked Ohio State. McGrath finished his day 15-3.

Men’s sabreurs sophomore John Halsten and senior Kevin Hassett finished with 12-4 and 12-5 records, respectively, going undefeated against both North Carolina and NYU.

In men’s foil, newly-minted world number-one senior foilist Gerek Meinhardt backed up his ranking, going 10-2. Seniors Nick Kubik and Ariel Desmet also posted notable results, with Kubik going 9-2 and DeSmet posting an 8-3 mark. The squad’s only loss was to No. 1 Columbia.

On the women’s side, the women’s foil duo of sophomore Lee Kiefer and junior Madison Zeiss posted 10-2 and 12-4 marks on the way to a 5-1 squad record. The unit’s only defeat came at the hands of No. 6 Columbia.

Junior Ashley Severson paced the women’s epee squad with a 12-5 record, while junior Nicole Ameli also turned in an impressive showing, posting 2-0 clean sheets against Yale, No. 7 Northwestern and NYU, as well as a 2-1 mark against No. 5 Ohio State.

Lastly, in women’s sabre, sophomore Johanna Thill turned in a 12-5 record to lead her squad. In her first collegiate action, freshman Allison Barry went 7-8.

Sunday the men’s epee team rolled off four straight wins, three of them 5-4 finishes, before falling to Columbia, 5-4. McGrath led the way with a 9-6 record.

Meinhardt, Kubik and Irish freshman Kristjan Archer earned records of 9-1, 8-3 and 5-3, respectively in the men’s foil portion of the competition.

Sophomore Catherine Lee led the Irish women in the epee with an 8-7 mark. Kiefer was nearly perfect in the foil, winning 10 of her 11 matches. Barry impressed again with an 8-7 record in the sabre and a 3-0 sweep against Columbia. Thrill posted the top line for the Irish in the event, though, ending at 11-4.

The Irish will be back in action Saturday, as they travel to Northwestern for the Northwestern Duals.