`Special' Year for Men's Squash

It was the sort of event perfectionistic young squash players might wrangle over in their dreams, replaying it over and over again to make it shinier and prettier each time.

And still, it couldn't have been more perfect.

On February 23, amidst throngs of loud, drunken fans at Yale's Payne Whitney Gym, Harvard's squash team, undefeated in its nine regular season matches of the season, found itself on the brink of defeat in the national championship match against undefeated arch-rival Yale.

Down 4-1 in a best-of-nine match, the squad battled back to within striking distance, winning two straight matches to set the count at 4-3. Then the Crimson's undefeated top player, Adrian Ezra, dominated his opponent to put the score at 4-4, setting the stage for a historic, championship-deciding match between Crimson sophomore Tal Ben Shachar and Yale's Jamie Dean.

Virtual clones on the court, Ben-Shachar and Dean battled fiercely, splitting the first four games and matching each other point-for-point in the tie-breaking fifth, 13-13, a situation giving cause for a five point tiebreaker. With the crowd behind him, Dean went up 4-2, and, for one brief moment, it looked like Harvard's string of three-straight national championships was over.

"It was scary," Ezra said. "There we were, sitting there watching powerlessly while Yale was going crazy--they needed only one more point. I think I closed my eyes."

He shouldn't have. On the verge of defeat, Ben-Shachar eked out two more points, tying the score at 17. Then, with the eyes of the whole crowd pinned to him alone, Ben-Shachar mustered a serve for all time--a hard, low beauty which Dean could only return into the tin.

Game, set, match, championship, Harvard--a thrilling cap to a thrilling season.

"It was one of the greatest matches in collegiate squash history," senior captain John Karlen said at the time. "Simply incredible."

Ben-Shachar was even more succinct: "It was one of the happiest moments of my life."

The Crimson would go on to win the prestigious Potter's Cup post-season tournament at Yale the next weekend, beating Western Ontario, 5-4. Even more, Ezra would go on to win the individual national championship the weekend after that at Brown.

But nothing, nothing could compare to the win at Yale.

"It was a great, great year by all accounts--I can't really ask for more for either the team or myself," Ezra said. "But what I will always remember is that national championship match with Yale. That was one of the most exciting matches I have seen."

The meet came at the end of a regular season which only the hypercritical could find fault with. In the nine matches prior to Yale, the squad outscored its opponents 81-3, with perfect 9-0 contests against every other Ivy League school.

"The captains really pushed our asses," Ezra says. "With each meet, we tried to get better, regardless of how bad our opponents was."

The scores of those contests show the team's improvement. After starting the season off with a 9-0 win over Brown on November 19, the squad struggled (by its standards) against Trinity, winning 7-2, and then, after blanking Cornell, struggled again against Franklin and Marshall, winning 8-1.

But after that, it was all smooth sailing until travelling to New Haven--the squad blanked Williams, Penn, Princeton, Dartmouth, Amherst and MIT in rapid succession.

"We came into the Yale match really confident, although we knew that they were undefeated, too," Ezra said. "We were on a roll, and we were determined to keep it going."

After the Yale win, the team kept it rolling even further with the Potter's Cup win and its general success at the individual championships, both of which solidified its position as the high and mighty of American collegiate squash.

"It was great year, even if we didn't shut out every team," Ezra jokes.

Then, becoming serious, he levels perhaps his greatest praise on the team.

"Of all four team I have been on here, I will remember this one. This year was special. I can't help but be extremely pleased."

MEN'S SQUASH

Record: 10-0

Ivy League: 6-0

Key Player: Adrian Ezra, Jon Karlen, Tal Ben-Shachar

Seniors: Christian Collins, Adrian Ezra, Josh Horwitz, Jon Karlen, Jon Pratt, Daniel Watts, David White