Crimson Rolls To Two Victories

Two matches and two dominating victories—for Harvard men’s squash, the season got off on the right foot.

The No. 5 Crimson traveled to Providence, R.I. on Friday to take on No. 13 Brown. Harvard swept the Bears, 9-0, dropping just two games on the day.

Saturday’s match sent the Crimson to Williamstown, Mass., where No. 10 Williams provided a bit more of a challenge, but Harvard still came away with the 6-3 win.

The Crimson’s top six players went undefeated on the weekend, and the top four on the ladder swept their respective matches.

“These two matches are the two easiest ones on our schedule,” co-captain Colin West said. “It’s important to get off to a good start against opponents we’re supposed to beat.”

HARVARD 6, WILLIAMS 3

In Saturday’s matchup, talent won out over depth, as Harvard earned victories at the top six spots to take a 6-3 decision.

“The Williams match was more encouraging,” co-captain Frank Cohen said. “We had two five-gamers that we were able to win, which speaks to how much we’ve trained.”

West, playing in the top spot and currently ranked second in the nation, easily dispatched the Eph No. 1 William Morris, 11-8, 11-3, 11-2.

Junior Richard Hill, freshman Zeke Scherl, and junior Reed Endresen rolled to wins at the second, third and fourth spots, respectively.

Cohen won, 3-2, at No. 6, while Williams claimed victory at Nos. 7, 8 and 9.

But it was the fifth spot that boasted the day’s most engaging matchup.

Rookie Jason Michas took Eph Bernard Yaros to five games, dropping the first game before rallying to win the second and third.

Yaros took the fourth, and the two battled to a 10-10 tie in the fifth game before Michas took the last two points to win the match, 3-2.

“His match could have been the crucial one,” West said. “He came back and had a mentally very good win. When you’re playing away, to come through despite that as a freshman is really important.”

HARVARD 9, BROWN 0

The Crimson cruised to a win in its season opener, dismantling the overmatched Bears on the road.

Hill set the tone for the weekend with his 3-0 dismissal of Brown’s Brad Thompsen at No. 2 on Friday, winning 11-4, 11-5, 11-5.

“Richard played pretty well,” Michas said. “He struggled against the Brown kid the last time we played Brown, and he took him down pretty easily this time.”

The Bears’ Adrian Leanza gave West a scare in the competitors’ third game. After West took the first two games by identical scores of 11-4, the senior needed extra time to dispose of his opponent, taking the final game, 12-10.

“The guys kind of rely on me and almost assume I’m going to win these matches,” West said. “I don’t want to let them down.”

Scherle, Michas and rookie Alexander Ma all earned their first career victories on Friday. Scherle and Michas rolled to 3-0 sweeps, while Ma rallied after dropping a close first game to Brown’s Alex Heitzmann, taking the match, 9-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-5.

“We have a lot of freshmen, but they managed to play pretty mentally tough,” West said.

Endresen, Cohen and No. 9 sophomore William Ahmed took their matches in easy 3-0 wins, while senior Alex Lavoie needed an extra game, but prevailed, 3-1, at No. 7.

As the team looks ahead to the meat of its schedule, the opening weekend has set the tone for success.

“I think that our scrimmages were up and down, and this weekend put us on the right track,” Cohen said.

—Staff writer Loren Amor contributed to the reporting of this article.

—Staff writer Kate Leist can be reached at kleist@fas.harvard.edu.