Harvard Nabs Pair of Wins, Earns Fifth at Championship

The Harvard men’s squash team (9-6, 3-3 Ivy) earned a No. 5 national ranking this weekend at the CSA National Team Championship, as 12-time defending champion Trinity (20-0, 1-0 NESCAC) reclaimed its title and extended its winning streak to 244 matches.

“We came into this tournament trying to get a top-four finish,” sophomore Alexander Ma said. “We had a tough loss to Princeton on Friday. We managed to rally back and beat Dartmouth on Saturday, and we really got our revenge [yesterday], because we lost to Cornell earlier in the season.”

HARVARD 5, CORNELL 4

Though not fighting for a national title, the Crimson had a strong showing against No. 5 Cornell in the consolation round finals of the Potter Cup division yesterday.

“The match [yesterday] was gratifying on a couple of different levels,” Way said. “When we played [Cornell] in the middle of our season, we had what was probably our worst performance at Cornell. I reminded [the team] of that, and they had to redeem themselves today.”

This weekend, the Crimson claimed retribution for the early defeat, edging the Big Red (10-5, 4-2 Ivy) by a slim margin of 5-4.

After going down 3-0 in the first cycle, Harvard was able to secure its first win at the No. 5 spot, with sophomore Zeke Scherl claiming a victory for the Crimson. Freshman Brandon McLaughlin swept his opponent to earn another win for Harvard at the No. 4 spot.

Captain Reed Endresen came back from being two games down to defeat his opponent in a five-game thriller in front of a large crowd.

“The kid has been through it...[Endresen] goes 0-2 down, he’s been sick, he has a black eye, and he’s the captain,” Way said. “The Oscars are tonight. It’s almost like the script of some bloody movie. Then, he pulls it out, and I could not be prouder of him.”

Ma also earned a key win for the Crimson. After battling the first four games to a stalemate and falling behind in the final set, the sophomore went on to win six straight points to take the No. 8 match, 11-9.

“My opponent played really well the first two games,” Ma said. “In the fifth game, I was down, 9-5. I really had to focus and claw my way back, one point at a time.”

Freshman Tommy Mullaney sealed the deal with a dominant 3-1 victory at the No. 7 spot, as the Crimson claimed fifth place in the nation for the second straight year.

HARVARD 8, DARTMOUTH 1

In its penultimate match of the weekend, Harvard defeated the No. 7 Big Green (11-6, 2-4) with a dominant showing.

“We were expected to win yesterday, but it’s never easy,” Way said. “We had to work hard for that one.”

The Crimson edged Dartmouth in games, 26-7, as Harvard earned its place in the consolation finals.

Senior Richard Hill played impressively for Harvard, defeating his opponent, 3-0, including a tight 12-10 second game.

Five Harvard players—Hill, Endresen, McLaughlin, Mullaney, and Scherl—won their matches in three games, while the Crimson dropped just one contest on the day.

PRINCETON 8, HARVARD 1

The Crimson got off to a disappointing start on Friday, as the Tigers (12-3, 5-1) won 25 sets and advanced to the second round.

“We played very well against Princeton,” Way said. “I think the score line didn’t really do justice to how well the guys played.”

Unfortunately for Harvard, the loss to the Tigers put the Crimson out of contention for the national title early on in the weekend.

Freshman McLaughlin picked up Harvard’s only victory of the day in four games, dropping the third set before securing the win in the fourth.

Mullaney, Ma, and junior William Ahmed posted strong showings, picking up two games each off of their Tiger counterpart in the only three five-game matches of the day.

Harvard ends national team championship weekend in fifth place, maintaining its national ranking from last year and moving up one spot from the most recent in-season poll, which tabbed the Crimson sixth.

—Staff writer Catherine E. Coppinger can be reached at ccoppinger@college.harvard.edu.