Men Finish 2nd in the Nation

After a long and close national championship final against #1 Trinity yesterday, our men’s team fell against the Bantams 4-5. On the way to the final, Harvard beat #7 Yale in the quarterfinal (8-1) and #3 Columbia in the semifinal (5-4).

Both teams knew that the final was going to be a close one; after all, the regular season match ended 5-4 as well.

#6 Sean Hughes and #9 Devin McLaughlin started off very well and gave Harvard a quick 2-0 lead. Meanwhile, #3 Madhav Dhingra fought bravely but eventually fell in four games.

The second round of play gave Trinity a 4-2 lead: #5 David Ryan and #8 Dylan Murray lost in four close games and #2 Bradley Smith lost in three.

So Harvard needed to win the three remaining matches. #4 Timmy Brownell won the first game comfortably and #1 Saad Abouaish looked strong in his match. #7 Bryan Koh was 2-1 down but was starting to come back. While Brownell lost the next two games, Abouaish finished his match with a 3-0 win and Koh was at 2-2. Koh was controlling the fifth game but Brownell was behind in the fourth game. The gutsy freshman started an impressive comeback though and saved numerous match balls to get to 9-10. After many lets and long, hard rallies, Brownell’s opponent eventually took the last point and clinched the match. It took 13 minutes for the match to finish after the first match ball! Koh ended up winning his match in five.

Despite the loss, the coaches are incredibly proud of this team. The players left everything on the court yesterday and were so close to beating a very strong Trinity team. The season as a whole was a great success: The team won the Ivy title and is ranked #2 in the nation during a time when the level of college squash is deeper than ever.

The season continues with the women’s nationals at Princeton this coming weekend. Our #1 ranked team is excited and looking forward to the weekend.

Go Crimson!

Read more on GoCrimson.com:

Feb 19, 2017
No. 2 Men’s Squash Falls to No. 1 Trinity in Potter Cup Final, 5-4
http://www.gocrimson.com/sports/msquash/2016-17/releases/20170219ph48km

Feb 18, 2017
No. 2 Men’s Squash Reaches CSA Team Championship with 5-4 Win Over No. 3 Columbia
http://www.gocrimson.com/sports/msquash/2016-17/releases/20170218ocfq9p

Feb 17, 2017
No. 2 Men’s Squash Advances to Semifinals with 8-1 Victory Against No. 7 Yale
http://www.gocrimson.com/sports/msquash/2016-17/releases/20170217us3w9b