Winter Sports Season Commences for YU Teams

Many would say that the most exciting extra curricular activities our University has to offer are sports. With the temperature dropping and the wind speeding up, winter sports season is upon us!

With the Men’s and Women’s Cross Country and Soccer seasons coming to an end, we turn to basketball and fencing to fill the excitement void our YU Macs fanatics are craving.

All four teams have already started competition this season. Our beloved fencing team showed a lot of promise at the Vassar invitational. Both the Men and Women’s team notched wins against Hunter College, with the Men’s team also beating Incarnate Word. The star for the men was Junior Spencer Brasch, leading the way in foil winning 18 out of 23 bouts. On the Women’s side, Senior Jamie Baum earned 14 victories in epee bouts, and Freshman Shoshana Ciment earned an impressive 8 wins in foil in her first experience as a collegiate athlete.

At the Temple University Open, the Men’s team continued their success with a handful of its athletes working their way into the round of 32. At the Matt Lampell Hudson River Invitational, the women’s team failed to earn a win but still showed plenty of heart, talent, and competitiveness. In terms of goals, the athletic department is looking to the fencing teams to once again send multiple athletes to the prestigious NCAA Regionals.

The Men’s Basketball team is off to a 1-2 start, with a win against City College of New York, and losses to the United States Coast Guard Academy and Connecticut College. They still have not played a game at home. Freshman Simcha Halpert was just named Skyline Conference rookie of the week, and he will certainly be one of the team’s stars to watch as the season develops.

The Women’s Basketball team also has not yet played a home game. They have started off the season at 1-1 with a win at Pratt institute and a loss at Ramapo College.

Men's basketball has added two new assistant coaches, ex-Mac and 1000-point scorer Benjy Ritholtz and ex-European-pro Daniel Tamir. Many are wondering how the team will do this season after a historically successful season last year in which they earned a spot in the playoffs and won their first home playoff game in 15 years. Athletic Director Joe Bednarsh displayed a positive attitude, saying, “I would love to host another playoff game this year!” He also mentioned that newly created divisions within the skyline conference presents the Macs with the opportunity to continue to be a force.

The main headline for the Women’s Basketball team is the arrival of brand new jerseys, including optional matching skirts, instead of shorts, for players who wish to wear them during games.

Be sure to come out and show your support and love for the Maccabees. Follow @yuathletics on Twitter and check out YUMacs.com for more information.