Cougars avenge loss to Bernards
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Zoee D’Costa had reacted quickly throughout her final sabre bout, but she couldn’t react quickly enough when her win landed the Montgomery High School girls fencing team in its first state championship.
D’Costa’s win clinched a 17-10 win over Bernards in the state semifinals on Wednesday night. They will fence for the state title 7 p.m. Tuesday at Morris Hills against Columbia.
”Our crowd was cheering and everyone jumped on me,” D’Costa said. “I didn’t even have a chance to put my sabre down.
”Everyone was proud of me. As a new person on the team, it was an amazing feeling to be a part of.”
The Montgomery freshman never could have imagined being such an integral part of Cougars fencing history. A year ago, she was still playing AAU basketball, but she passed up the chance to play roundball for fencing.
”I made that switch and was not sure how it was going to go,” D’Costa said. “The first week, I saw how good the girls were, but I wanted to be like that. I tried really hard. Unfortunately, one of our girls had gotten hurt and I had the opportunity to go in. To go in and feel what a win feels like on a varsity strip, you can’t go back. Being on a varsity team and having so much success, it’s a great feeling to get so far.”
To get to the championship, the Cougars had to upset Bernards, a team that they had lost to, 15-12, on Jan. 12. Unlike that match in which Bernards led, 6-3, after the first round, MHS started faster. The Cougars led 4-0 early and won the first round, 7-2.
”We knew that we could have beat them,” said MHS head coach Johanna Snedeker after improving to 16-2. “When we fenced them earlier, we had a really bad first round. We were kind of asleep. On the second and third round, we were better. We knew we were capable of fencing them.
”We went out there and got in a zone,” she said. “It’s rare when you get one or two in a zone. We got 41. All the girls fencing, all the girls supporting, it was fantastic.”
The regular-season loss was motivation, if the chance to get to a state title match wasn’t enough.
”When we went back to the school today, we were so pumped and felt that teamwork and w were going to go get them,” D’Costa said. “We wanted it so bad.”
Things were rolling right through the second round when the Cougars picked up another six wins to pull within a victory of clinching.
”We had 13 wins and we had trouble getting that last win,” Snedeker said. “It was kind of comical. Next week against Columbia, we’re not going to have that cushion.”
With three fencers ahead of her, D’Costa was relaxed as she awaited her final bout, but when all three of them lost, it put the pressure on her to clinch. Bernards sent out the only girl that had beaten her in the first round of the Freshman-Sophomore Invitational that D’Costa eventually won.
”I was so nervous and so excited at the same time,” D’Costa said. “Going on the strip, you know you have such a big support group behind you. Everyone is such a family. No matter what, you’re going to be loved by everyone.
”There’s always pressure, but you have to put it aside and fence every touch and fence with your heart.”
D’Costa did to end Bernards’ chances of tightening the match any further. The Cougars got 3-0 days from Katherine Couch in epee and Juliet Job in foil.
”The key was the sabres swept the first round and Juliet took hers, so we were up 4-0,” Snedeker said. “Coming back at a meet of this caliber is tough. And then we won all three epees. The key was not to get excited. I told them, just stay in the zone.”
By doing so, the Cougars made history. They’ve advanced farther than any other MHS girls team.
”It’s the first time for me being in a state final,” Snedeker said. “And it’s the first time for any of these girls being in a state final. It’s exciting. There’s a lot of buzz in the town. There’s a lot of buzz in the school. It means a lot of pride in Montgomery, a lot of pride in the team and being a part of the team. There’s no one person who’s a superstar. They’re all just solid fencers backing each other up.”
It was the perfect environment for D’Costa, who also plays soccer and will join the track and field team this spring. She’s hooked on fencing, though she’s only been competing for eight months, thanks in part to such an encouraging beginning with MHS.
”It’s so good to know that you’re not alone,” D’Costa said. “Especially since I’m new, I never had the feeling that I was alone. I went to a (outside) tournament, and it’s such a different feeling. With your team and support, you never feel alone. You never feel that it’s just you.”
She has fit in well with a team that’s been motivated all year to do something special. There have been other talented Cougar teams, but none of them have made it this far.
”They want it,” Snedeker said. “I think that’s the biggest difference. They all are single-minded that they want to win. They want this really bad. In practices, we talked about and in everything we do, we take one bout at a time, one meet at a time. We’ve had this in the back of our minds, but we didn’t know how it would play out. To have it play out as dramatically as it did was nice.”
Zoee D’Costa was thrilled to help, and the win helps give her confidence that the Cougars can win one more when they take on Columbia next Tuesday.
”It’s the first time in the finals,” D’Costa said, “and being in this (semifinals) situation a couple years and being on the other side of it, it’s going to give us so much energy to go out and give it our best shot.”

