Crimson Loses Undefeated Ivy Record in Split

One weekend, two Ivy League games, the same score. Playing No. 8 Penn (5-7, 1-5 Ivy) on Saturday, the Harvard men’s squash team easily handed the Quakers a 7-2 loss. Just one day later, the numbers reversed as the Crimson fell to No. 4 Princeton (9-2, 5-1), 7-2.

In the team’s final weekend at Harvard’s Barnaby Courts, the Crimson (5-3, 4-1 Ivy) lost its undefeated conference status and chance at a sole Ivy League title, but gained much-needed experience before entering into the championship part of the season.

“[This weekend] gives us a lot of courage to get ready for Yale [next week] and have a stab at sharing the Ivy title,” Harvard coach Satinder Bajwa said.

PRINCETON 7, HARVARD 2

The second of Harvard’s weekend matchups was less forgiving for the Crimson, as only co-captain Colin West and junior Richard Hill in the No. 1 and No. 2 positions secured victories.

“Today’s match was a match that was always going to be tough,” Bajwa said.

Hill started the day on the right path, coming back with three quick victories in a row after losing his first game, 11-8, against the Tigers’ Christopher Callis. With Callis hitting too low in the final game, Hill picked up an 11-5 win.

Playing on the same court, West took the first two games, 11-7 and 12-10, before falling 11-5 in the third. After going back-and-forth in the fourth game, West left Princeton’s Todd Harrity sprawled on the floor after attempting to reach the co-captain’s final shot.

“Colin [played] a top-four player in college, maybe three,” Bajwa said. “He hasn’t had matches like that, so in some ways it looked critical, but on the other hand, it was a good thing him getting these tougher matches...Getting this match and having to push a lot more than 3-1, 3-0 is in some ways a blessing in disguise for him to be ready for Yale’s match and leading the team.”

The closest match of the day, though, wasn’t West or Hill, but rather that of No. 9 freshman Alexander Ma, who came back from a two-game deficit against the Tigers’ Nikhil Seth. Winning the third and fourth games, 11-8 and 11-9, Ma seemed poised to take the whole match before Seth came back with three final hard shots to win the last game for Princeton, 11-9.

“Very close matches, but you know [Princeton] is deep, much deeper than [us],” Bajwa said. “Today they had their No. 2 missing and yet they can bring up players of such strength. But our guys had some very good, rewarding matches.”

HARVARD 7, PENN 2

Hill and West had similar success in the beginning of the weekend, defeating Penn’s Danny Greenberg and Mark Froot respectively. This time, though, Harvard’s top two players were not the only ones with success.

Junior J. Reed Endresen was among four other Crimson players to win 3-1, after he bested his opponent Trevor McGuinness, 7-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-7, in what many considered the most entertaining match of the day.

“The team did really well,” co-captain Frank Cohen said. “I think that people came up when they needed to for the most part, and we played well on the whole.”

Harvard’s freshman Jason Michas and junior Eliot Buchanan in the No. 5 and No. 6 positions, respectively, secured 3-1 wins, as did Endresen, Ma, and senior Alex Lavoie at No. 10.

Sophomore William Ahmed, playing at No. 8, also tallied a victory for Harvard, defeating Brooks Russell, 3-0.

“Every match where it could have been a tough match, [Dartmouth, Cornell, Penn] they have made it look easy,” Bajwa said. “And they have gotten better at it.”

For Lavoie, as well as West and Cohen, the matchup against Penn marked the last home win in their college careers.

“It definitely hasn’t hit us yet,” Cohen said. “It was nice to be recognized for the work we put in over the four years...That was nice, but it doesn’t feel like it’s over yet because we still have a lot to play.”

—Staff writer Alex Sopko can be reached at sopko@fas.harvard.edu.