Men's Squash Sweeps Princeton To Climb Above .500

With his well-placed rail that forced a tin by his opponent on a volley drop attempt to end the match, freshman Alexi Gosset polished off a decisive Harvard victory over No. 11 Princeton on Sunday at the Murr Center.

Fresh off a 6-3 win over No. 2 Penn on Saturday, the No. 8 men’s squash team carried momentum over into Sunday to get its record above .500 for the first time this season.

The Crimson (2-1, 2-1 Ivy) did not waste its chance against the Tigers (2-6, 0-2), as it swept its fellow Ivy League competitor in convincing fashion, 9-0, for the second time in three seasons.

“It was a very clinical performance from the guys just because they held it together on their own,” junior co-captain Bryan Koh said. “[Some] performed really well, not dropping any games, but even the guys who dropped some games did really well to catch themselves and come back strong.”

Five members of the Harvard squad—sophomores David Ryan, Bradley Smith, and Madhav Dhingra, junior Dylan Murray, and Gosset—were able to cruise to 3-0 victories against their Princeton counterparts. For Smith, the win represented his first victory at the No. 2 slot this season.

After his 10-0 record in match play mainly at the No. 5 position a year ago, Ryan was able to brush off his first ever loss in a regular season match, which came on Saturday against Penn, to secure his second win at the top slot in his career.

The only match to reach a fifth game against the Tigers was at No. 8 between Haravrd sophomore Seif Eleinen and Princeton freshman William Oon. Following an 11-9 loss in the first game, Eleinen fought back in the next two to take a 2-1 lead over his opponent, but a 11-5 defeat in the fourth forced a decisive fifth game.

“Seif's match at position eight was really hotly contested,” sophomore Mandela Patrick said. “They both traded the first four games, but Seif kept his cool and composure to win the fifth in commanding fashion.”

After tinning a forehand drop from backcourt to reduce his lead in the fifth, 5-4, Eleinen never let up and rolled to a strong finish. Stretching his opponent across all corners of the court with resilient frontcourt play and tight rails, the Alexandria, Egypt native pulled out the victory, 11-6, helping to preserve the Crimson’s sweep.

“I think that’s something that we are all learning to build into our game,” Koh said. “Just to hang in there longer, open up, and play the extra shot. It’s important to come through in these five gamers, [and] it’ll only do well for his confidence.”

Koh overcame some adversity in his own match against Cambridge, Mass., product Cody Cortes at position three. Conceding a 1-0 deficit to the Tiger freshman, the junior won the next three games without much trouble. Patrick and junior Devin McLaughlin were also victorious in four, both dropping a game, 11-3, in their respective matches after pulling out to an early lead.

At the seventh position, Harvard’s Gosset was able to best Princeton sophomore Abhimanyu Shah, 11-4, 11-5, 11-4. Shah was the lone winner in the team’s match against No. 7 Dartmouth in Hanover, N.H., on Saturday. After losing his first career match for the Crimson in its 5-4 loss to the Big Green in December, the rookie has responded well with two convincing victories in his most recent contests.

In fact, the whole squad has responded to the uninspiring performance in the season opener. Admittedly a major wake-up call for Harvard, the Dartmouth loss seems to have focused the entire team in recent weeks, resulting in the strong play that was witnessed on Sunday.

“I think mentally we are in much better shape than we were in December,” Koh said. “Right now I think the team is in a good place. We are all working as a unit and everyone is mentally and physically strong. So going forward we are just going to keep it up, stick to our program, and believe in ourselves.”

—Staff writer Jackson M. Reynolds can be reached at jacksonreynolds@college.harvard.edu.