Continuing their history of wins against the Lions since 2013, the Lowell Cardinals’ fencing team once again beat Galileo on March 11 at home. The boys won 7-2 overall, and the girls went 6-3 overall.

Compared to past matches, the Cardinals considered the Lions a more formidable opponent. “They’re the most difficult so far,” junior Wyeth Marshall said. Galileo also had some left-handers on their team, which Lowell wasn’t as prepared for. “Since we don’t really got lefties on our team, it’s hard fencing them and you’re like, ‘How the hell do we do it?’” junior Katie Huang said.

However, that didn’t mean that everyone was worried. “I just expected us to do great,” head coach Scott Cunningham said. “I didn’t really worry too much about the guys that much.” Cunningham was a little more concerned with the girls, because last year, Galileo had two notable fencers and almost beat Lowell, being only one bout from winning. That concern was quickly eroded when the bouts began. “We got the lead pretty quick, and that momentum carried us through to a decisive victory,” he said.

Girls’ co-captain junior Esme Cohen started the girls off with a clean 5-0 win. Senior Ella Houweling and junior Jordan Kosai won 5-2 and 5-0, respectively. Cohen lost 4-5 shortly after. Right after that loss, Houweling struck back, winning the next bout 1-0 with a timeout. Kosai won the next bout in a quick 5-2, followed by a rough loss of 1-5. Next, sophomore Anna Orgel faced a 3-3 tie as the clock ran out, which the Lions took despite Orgel having priority. (One fencer is randomly chosen to have priority; the other fencer must score a point or else the fencer with priority wins.) The final bout was a close 5-4 win by sophomore Isabella Su.

The boys had an odder time—in every bout they won, the Lions never scored more than twice. However, the sixth and seventh bouts were almost identical—losses of 3-5. Junior Jonas Castillo went 5-2, then Sophomore Aiden Scribner 5-0, then boys’ co-captain senior Raymond McMillan 5-1, Castillo 5-0, and Scribner ended 5-2, guaranteeing that the Cardinals would take the match. Junior Wyeth Marshall lost the next one in a 2-3 timeout, and Castillo followed suit in a 3-5. Junior Luke O’Grady and Marshall both ended the Lions’ chance for a comeback with 5-0 shutouts.

While Galileo was more skilled than some others, and take “some effort and some respect” to beat, Cunningham thinks that the title of toughest fencers goes to another school.

The Cardinals’ next match is against the University Red Devils—the team that Cunningham is afraid of—on March 21 at home.