Crimson Topples Penn, Falls to Princeton

Unfortunately for the No. 4 Harvard women’s squash team (7-1, 4-1 Ivy), close only counts in horseshoes. After an impressive 7-2 win Saturday over No. 2 Penn (8-2, 4-1 Ivy), the Crimson came up just short Sunday against No. 1 Princeton (10-0, 5-0 Ivy), falling 4-5. With the victory, Princeton won its third consecutive Ivy League title and completed a perfect 10-0 regular season.

Despite the setback to the Tigers, victories over the Quakers and No. 3 Trinity last week ensure that Harvard will be a favorite in the season-ending Howe Cup Championship next weekend to be held in Cambridge at the Barnaby Courts.

“I am hoping that having home court advantage will make a difference next time,” Crimson coach Satinder Bajwa said of facing Princeton again.

Harvard next takes on Yale (9-3, 3-3 Ivy) Wednesday evening at the Barnaby Courts with a chance to secure a runner-up Ivy League finish.

PRINCETON 5, HARVARD 4

Princeton spoiled the Crimson’s undefeated season by the slimmest of margins Sunday afternoon, escaping with a 5-4 victory, with five of the nine matches going to a decisive fifth game.

Bajwa pointed to both physical and emotional fatigue as possible culprits for the loss.

“Yesterday’s match may have taken the wind out of our sails a bit today,” he said. “After playing so well yesterday, we had to come out and try to do it all over again. That is always tough.”

Freshman No. 4 Emily Park and junior team captain No. 7 Johanna Snyder both recorded 3-2 wins for their team. Each alternated games with their opponents before seizing control to take the fifth games, 9-2 and 9-5, respectively

No. 5 junior Katherine O’Donnell also won 3-2, rallying from a 2-1 deficit to take the match 9-1, 4-9, 6-9, 9-3, 9-5. O’Donnell improved her season record to 8-0.

With a victory on Wednesday against Yale, she will be the first Crimson player to go undefeated in the regular season since Kyla Grigg ’07 in 2007.

“I’ve been concentrating on squash the entire year,” O’Donnell said. “My hard work is paying off and it feels great.”

Freshman No. 2 Nirasha Guruge fell to Princeton’s Neha Kumar in a tight five game match, 7-9, 9-6, 9-10, 9-3, 9-1. Guruge appeared to seize momentum after winning a lengthy third game, but was unable to close out the match, dropping the final two games by wide margins.

Freshman No. 8 Cece Cortes won her third match since making the starting nine, 3-2, but Sophomore Bethan Williams fell, 3-1, to the Tigers’ Mary O’Toole for her first loss of the season.

Freshmen No. 1 June Tiong and Sophomores No. 2 Alisha Mashruwala and No. 9 Alexandra Zindman all fell, 3-0, to complete the scoring.

Princeton has had its way with Harvard for the past three seasons, defeating the team handily, 6-3, both last year and in the Howe Cup title match the season before. But yesterday’s performance was the most competitive match the two have played during that span.

The Crimson is confident that the next time the two play, which could very well be next weekend, the result will be in its favor.

“We will be back at the Howe Cup with a vengeance,” O’Donnell said. “They should be scared.”

HARVARD 7, PENN 2

Harvard defeated Penn 7-2 Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia in a match that was much closer than the final score indicated and featured three five-game thrillers. As they did against No. 3 Trinity last Wednesday, the Crimson jumped out to a 6-0 lead and hung on for the 7-2 victory.

“This past week has been a culmination of all our hard work the entire year,” O’Donnell said. “We feel it paid off and we got what we deserved.”

Despite the final score, the match was not short on drama.

Mashruwala found herself in a 2-0 hole after the first two games of her match 5-9 and 7-9, but rallied to take the next two 9-4 and 9-7 and set up her second five-game match of the week. Against a dispirited Alisha Turner of Penn, Mashruwala dominated the final game, 9-1, to take the match, 3-2, and raise her career fifth-game record to 3-0.

At the No. 2 flight, Guruge bounced back from her first defeat of the season against Trinity last Wednesday to upend the Quaker’s Sydney Scott in a back-and-forth five-game battle. Guruge played around disappointing showings in the first and fourth games to take the match, 4-9, 9-4, 9-7, 3-9, 9-6.

—Staff writer Barret P. Kenny can be reached at bpkenny@fas.harvard.edu.