The Drew University fencing teams opened their shortened 2020-2021 season at home on Saturday with a mini series against Division I foe Sacred Heart University.
The men's team won their portion of the mini-series with a 3-2 record for the day.
The Rangers prevailed in the opening match 15-12 behind a strong 3-0 performance from sophomore foilist Michael DeSando. For DeSando, the victories were his first-ever NCAA wins after transferring to the Rangers program from Delaware Valley University.
The Rangers dropped the next two matches by identical 17-10 scores. Senior epee fencer Jeremy Ferreira was a stellar 3-0 in the first defeat while senior saberist Luca Rampazzo went 3-0 in the second of the losses.
Things turned for the better in the afternoon session as the Rangers registered victories in the fourth and fifth matches by scores of 17-10 and 16-11. Along the way, foilist Drew Laun picked up his 100th career victory.
"Drew has worked exceptionally hard and had overcome some really tough issues along the way," said Assistant Coach Michael Bindas. "For him to hit the 100 win mark was very, very satisfying to him and to everyone else in the program."
The stars of the five-game series were Rampazzo (11-2 on the day), freshman epee fencer Lorence Lukanyuk (6-0 on the day) and freshman saber fencer Michael Parkhurst (5-1 on the day).
"We were all pleasantly surprised by Lorence's performance," said Head Coach Vincent Paragano. "He showed us all why he is an A-rated fencer."
The women's team was not as fortunate in their part of the mini-series as they went winless in four matches against their counterparts from Sacred Heart. The losses came by the relatively close margins of 15-12, 15-12, 15-12 and 16-11.
However, the day was not a total loss as encouraging individual performances were turned in by a core group of freshmen such as saberists Maggie Kistner (6-4 on the day) and Celina Kowalski (5-4 in saber), foil fencer Ashley George (7-5) and epee fencer Caira Blake (5-1). The day also saw the emergence of Sophia McGee (7-5) as the anchor of a revamped epee line-up.
With the women's team roster depleted due to COVID-virtual semesters by many of its usual starters, the team has had to rely on cross-training and the willingness of many of its members to go into the line-up in unusual positions. For example, saberists Emily Jones and Olivia Yepez each scored victories in foil and saberist Celina Kowalski picked up a victory in epee.
Over the course of the day, the teams started 18 new players (16 freshmen and two transfers). None of them had any prior experience at the NCAA level.
"We got great performances from our freshmen," added Paragano. "We told them throughout the preseason that we were throwing them into the deep end of the pool. Circumstances during this crazy season dictated that they needed to be put into the starting lineup maybe a bit early. You can tell a lot by watching their mannerisms and their adjustments during the course of their bouts. They learned by doing; they were not discouraged. Those things will not show in the immediate line score. But they will pay dividends over the next couple of season. Watch for it; I promise you that this is the beginning of a conference-winning team."
Both teams will return to action on Sunday. Division I national power St. John's men's and women's teams come into the Simon Forum for doubleheaders in the morning. MACFA and EWFC rival Yeshiva's men's and women's teams play the Rangers in doubleheaders in the matinee.
