Even with just three hours of sleep, the Wildcats swept the Penn Duals on Saturday and kept the momentum going into Sunday en route to a 3-1 record at the NYU Duals. The Cats ended the weekend with an overall record of 20-2 in dual matches.

“It shows we belong in the top tier of teams and that’s what we hoped to prove,” Northwestern coach Laurie Schiller said

NU didn’t get to Philadelphia until 3 a.m. on Saturday, but that didn’t stop the team from rolling past Cornell and Temple before defeating No. 9 Penn in what Schiller predicted would be the toughest match of the day. The Cats then beat Drew and, with the help of several forfeits, shut out the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

The Cats’ greatest feats of the weekend, however, may have come on Sunday at the NYU Duals. The Cats won against No. 3 Columbia, No. 8 Yale and NYU, but lost to No. 6 St. John’s. NU came out strong in the first match of the day, beating Yale “very handily,” according to Schiller.

In the Columbia match, NU started out slowly, with the sabre team winning only one of its nine bouts. However, the epee and foil teams performed well and the Cats won 14-13.

Schiller said the win was “one of the best we’ve had.”

The Cats fell in the third match to St. John’s, which Schiller said was “a very tough team.”

NU ended the day winning against NYU by a score of 22-5.

Schiller said he believed the USFA North America Cup held last weekend helped prepare the team because it gave the Cats the opportunity to fence against top-level fencers. NU will face tough opponents Notre Dame and Ohio State this weekend at the Notre Dame duals. Notre Dame beat the Cats in November.

“They fenced with a lot of passion and good focus,” Schiller said. “Even when we got behind the team scrapped away and we won.”

Reach Annie Martin at [email protected].