No Problem for Harvard against Cornell and Western Ontario

The Harvard men’s squash team closed out the first part of its season on Saturday with a sweep of Cornell and Western Ontario (UWO), improving to 5-0 for the year. Playing in its first matches away from the Murr Center, the Crimson continued to dominate, posting two more 9-0 wins in a season where it has yet to drop a single individual match.

“The weekend was a good test for us since we had to play two matches back to back,” said captain Ilan Oren, who swept both of his matches in the second position.

Because sophomore Verdi DiSesa, who usually plays in the sixth position, did not travel with the team this weekend, some players had a chance to play in a slightly higher position then usual.

“They had better matches,” Oren said. “And basically they stepped up and rose to the occasion.”

Harvard’s convincing performance, especially against No. 5-ranked UWO—its second opponent of the day—added an extra boost of confidence to a team that looks to complete not only for the Ivy League title but also the national title.

“I think the team is on target with its goals,” Oren said. “But overconfidence is not going to an issue. We have seven seniors on this team and we know exactly what we’re facing. We know what we want to do and how we’re going to do it. If anything, we’re going to be more serious, more determined, more focused. All the matches that we’ve won so far wouldn’t really mean much if you don’t win in February.”

Some of the Crimson players will play in the USSRA Five Man Team Championships next weekend in Connecticut before the team gathers again to face Trinity at home on Feb. 7.

HARVARD 9, UWO 0

Harvard shut out UWO after having had precious little time to rest after playing the Big Red.

“We had to win back to back,” Oren said. “It was a part of our coach’s crisis training strategy. We had to play a match against a pretty good team at a point where we were slightly tired.”

UWO, ranked No. 5 behind Trinity, Princeton, Harvard, and Yale, has many international players known for their distinctive style of play. For this reason, it is perhaps the most similar team to Trinity—also with many internationals and the favorite to repeat as national champions.

“Even if the UWO guys are not at the same level as the Trinity players, it’s still a test for us to see how we fare with that style of play,” Oren said.

Jason De Lierre, playing in the fourth position, had the toughest match of the day, falling behind 0-2 before storming back to clinch the match 3-2.

“[Jason’s match] showed that we’re not going to give in,” said senior Mihir Sheth, the no. 6 player for Harvard. “We’re there to win every match. That’s our mentality.”

Sheth defeated his opponent 10-8, 9-5, 9-6, though he was down 0-6 in the final game.

“It was a lapse of concentration in the beginning,” Sheth said. “But it felt good to turn it around.”

Senior Garnett Booth had another impressive showing, beating his opponent 9-2, 9-0, 9-0. Early in the day against Cornell, Booth had won 9-1, 9-0, 9-0.

“Booth has been playing so well in the past few weeks,” Oren said. “He’s dropped a total of three or four points in the last few matches.”

HARVARD 9, CORNELL 0

The Crimson continued its shutout streak by defeating the Big Red (1-4, 0-3 Ivy) without dropping a single game in the process. The toughest match occurred in the third position, where freshman Colin West had to win a close third game, 10-8, to clinch the victory. Senior Siddharth Suchde, playing in the first position, won 9-2, 9-4, 9-3, while Sheth easily defeated his opponent, 9-2, 9-2, 9-1.

“It was good to see everyone play so well,” Sheth said. “[The beginning of the season] could not have gone any better, especially with the way everyone’s playing, but we have to keep on going.”

Sophomore Niko Hrdy, playing seventh, lost only six points in his three-game sweep, while junior Chessin Gertler lost only four points at No. 8. Todd Ostrow, playing ninth, won 9-7, 9-3, 9-0.

—Staff writer Tony D. Qian can be reached at tonyqian@fas.harvard.edu.