Zhao and Lobascio’s overzealous good sportsmanship makes a few teammates wonder. The reason for all this intimacy is simple: in the small world of fencing, everybody seems to know everybody else.

RICHARD RODRIN In a duel of captains, junior captain Weina Zhao (right) lunges into four-line as her opponent, University's girls' team captain, counter-attacks with an off-target thrust to the leg. Zhao won her match and led the girls to victory.

One reason for the fencers’ communal attitude stems from the private fencing club, Halberstadt, where many fencers from different schools practice together and share the same coach. Most members know Peter Burchard as their coach for Halberstadt, but his head coaching job at University makes fencing against that team slightly awkward.

“Usually Peter is on my side telling me how to fence my opponent but this time he is on the side of my opponent,” Zhao said. “He thought I was amazing and (said) that he was proud of me. If I fenced well, it was because of his training.”

Lowell fencing coach Scott Cunningham admits that it’s quite “nerve-wrecking,” because Burchard is his coach as well. Cunningham also said that University is one of Lowell’s biggest competitors. The match against University is especially challenging since it is usually early in the season, when the squad hasn’t had much time to practice. In their big meet, the girls won 7-2 and the boys lost 2-7.

Many fencers who knew Li as the former assistant coach for Lowell felt a bit taken aback seeing her cheer on Galileo as their current assistant coach. Li, who now coaches for Galileo, jokingly said, “It’s fun to beat Scott,” after the Cardinal boys lost 5-4 to the Lions. The girls, on the other hand, cruised to a 7-2 victory.

Cunningham explained that the Cardinals’ girls team is stronger than the boys’ this year, but all the new starters are advancing quickly. “We took a big blow losing seniors from last year, but fencers seem to be rising to the challenge,” Cunningham said. New freshmen fencers Taylor Chan and Melissa Louie are showing great progress after fencing only one semester, he added.

Melissa Louie, cousin of senior starter Jonathan M. Louie, explained she already had a passion for fencing even without her cousin’s influence. “I wanted to do it myself, but he helped me a lot,” Louie said. Other new starters sophomore Natalie Ho, and juniors Tiffany Pang and Austin Lau displayed exceptional skill in recent matches, according to Cunningham. Lau, unpredictable and assertive in his fencing style, can be quite intimidating said many team members.

During the Galileo match, Lau demonstrated his self-titled “Bruce Lee” move, in which he hops back and forth before lunging toward the opponent. The Cardinals’ aggressive attitude led to their smashing victory over Balboa on March 1.

The Cardinals hoped for an undefeated season but were crushed when they lost 5-4 to Lincoln on March 6. Despite this loss, the Cardinals are not lowering any of their hopes for the rest of the season. “I’ve had practice this summer, so I look forward to kicking some butt,” Zhao said.

Cunningham would prefer to avoid tight contests for the remainder of the season. “I don’t like close matches; I like crushing victories.”

The next match will be an away game against Washington on Thursday March 29 at 3:30 p.m.