Wednesday Part Two: Elis Ace Racquetmen for Title

Harvard Coach Steve Piltch called it "epic battle number two."

Yale coach Dave Talbott called it "a once in a life-time moment," in a "dream match" in a "dream season."

When the Harvard men's squash team lost to Yale, 5-4, for the second time within four days, both called it an act of fate.

At the post-season national tournament this weekend at Penn, the Crimson got a chance to avenge it's loss to the Elis last weekend on Yale courts. If the Crimson had emerged victorious, it could have proven that last Wednesday's loss to Yale was just bad luck.

Instead, the Crimson just saw a mirror image of last Wednesday's game. Two of the men who lost on Wednesday jumped back to victories on Sunday, while two who won on Wednesday fell to defeat the second time around. For Piltch's other five, Sunday's match was Wednesday: Part Two.

Part Two was playing in Harvard first-seed Mark Baker's court. He lost in five more tension-filled matches to Yale's powerhouse, John Musto.

Baker, who is new to hard-ball squash this year, couldn't quite assimilate to Musto's vicious mix of three-walls. Recovering from a flu, Baker could not rely on endurance to nab a win. He was leading, 2-0, when Musto's hard-ball experience started to take its toll on Baker. Musto won the next three games.

At second seed, Jeremy Fraiberg sought and caught revenge against Yale senior Captain Cyrus Mehta, who beat Fraiberg in four games last Wednesday. This time, Fraiberg whipped his opponent into shape in three concise games.

Sophomore Jonny Kaye did no whipping, losing to Alex Dean, in three games. Four days earlier, Kaye crushed Dean in three games. Ninthseed Josh Horwitz lost in five to Eli Alex Darrow, and Farokh Pandole lost to Bulldog senior Jeff Hurte by one point in the fourth game.

"I guess you win some and you lose some," Pandole said. "You have to lose some to enjoy the winning."

Senior Co-Captain Jim Masland wanted to go out in style, with a big win against Eli Garrett Frank. Masland didn't win, but he had style in his crushing five-game loss to Frank, who has only lost one match in his collegiate squash career.

"Jim fought as hard as I could have ever wanted him to out there," said Piltch. "My hat goes off to him and [Co-Captain Jon Bernheimer]."

At number three, Bernheimer dealt Tim Goodale yet another fatal blow, repeating three-game Wednesday mismatch, 15-7, 15-9, 15-6.

"It wasn't too tough," Bernheimer said. "He just didn't play too well."

Freshman Marty Clark, who didn't play too well on Wednesday, played what Piltch called "the best match of Clark's season," to annihilate opponent Chris Hurt in three games. Similarly, Jon Masland was on fire, smoking Yale's Jim "Toughie" Kingsbury in five games. Masland, who lost to Kingsbury on Wednesday, showed that stubbornness is a virtue, refusing to buckle under pressure.

Despite the loss, Piltch was pleased with the last Crimson performance of the season.

"We played better than on Wednesday, and we controlled most of the matches yesterday," he said. "Someone had to win, and someone had to lose. My tribute goes to Yale because they fought so hard."

"I still definitely think Harvard is more talented," Talbott said. "They had the match. I think they handled two very frustrating losses in an exceptional way. Our guys really respected that."

So what do the Harvard players respect? Bernheimer has an idea.

"Yale found a way to win, and they did. We didn't."

What do the Harvard players regret?

"The result," Jim Masland said.