Men's Squash Continues Undefeated Streak with Win over Rochester

This year’s Harvard men’s squash team makes victory look almost too easy. What was a close 5-4 win in 2012 against the University of Rochester seemed like a walk in the park this season.

In the familiar confines of the Murr Center on Saturday, the No. 2 Crimson (9-0, 3-0 Ivy) extended its unbeaten record by topping Rochester (6-4, 3-1 Liberty League). Harvard dropped just one match to emerge victorious, 8-1.

“We had some very good wins,” co-captain Gary Power said. “There were some close matches, but we stuck it out and are very happy with our results this weekend. Everyone played extraordinarily well, which is a reflection of our performances so far this season.”

After a three-game upset against St. Lawrence Friday afternoon, fellow co-captain Brandon McLaughlin bounced back and defeated the Yellowjackets’ No. 2 seed Ryosei Kobayashi in a five-game match of endurance. After a large early lead in the first game, McLaughlin fell into a hole in the second.

The two players swapped sets, with McLaughlin eventually claiming the fifth game to give the point to Harvard. The point breakdown, which featured three sets that were decided by three points or fewer—11-4, 12-14, 11-9, 3-11, and 11-8—demonstrated just how evenly matched the two players were.

Brothers Nigel and Bryan Koh also needed five games to finish off their Rochester opponents. Senior Nigel Koh defeated No. 5 seed Aria Fazelimanesh, 11-9, 13-15, 9-11, 11-8, and 11-8. After falling behind by a game, rookie Bryan Koh played his second five-game match of the weekend to top senior opponent Karm Kumar, overcoming the early deficit to earn the win at the No. 6 spot.

“We are a very talented group, very focused,” Power said. “[We are] the best team Harvard has ever seen. We are fit and ready to go. Our training allows us to win most matches, 3-0, and if it gets to five games, we are usually in better shape than our opponents and can outlast them.”

But not all Crimson players saw their matches stretch into five games—five members of the squad shut out their opponents to bring home the victory.

“Standout performances were the bottom three, [sophomore] Nick Hopcroft, [senior] Tommy Mullaney, and [junior] Tyler Olson, who didn’t drop games,” McLaughlin said. “Gary Power also didn’t drop a game at No. 4, and [senior] Ali Farag performed as well as he always does.”

Rochester’s top seed, Niel Cordell, who was No. 17 in the Dunlop College Squash Association individual player rankings last season, faced third-ranked player and Harvard’s top seed, Farag. Cordell took Farag into extra points in the first two games of the match, but the Egypt native ultimately grabbed the games and the match, 12-10, 14-12, and 11-9.

“A big shout out has to go to Ali Farag,” Power said. “He is definitely a guy that, when everyone else watches, they think ‘this is phenomenal squash.’ He is potentially the best squash player that college squash has ever seen. He pushes us to play our best and not let up when the match isn’t going our way.”

Farag, who won the 2012 CSA Individual National Championships and reached the semifinals last year, looks to end this campaign in the top spot, where he was at the completion of the 2011-2012 season. With his victory over previous No. 1 Amr Khaled Khalifa of St. Lawrence on Friday evening, the top ranking may be back in Farag’s sights if the senior continues on the undefeated path.

“Ali had two big matches this weekend against strong opponents,” freshman Dylan Murray said. “It’s impressive but not too surprising [that he won], seeing as he is playing so strong recently and is coming off an appearance in the tournament of champions…in New York.”

Only No. 3 seed Murray fell to a Rochester opponent. Mario Yanez defeated Murray in straight games, 11-4, 11-5, and 11-5. Yanez, nicknamed “Super Mario” by his teammates, moves his personal record to 9-0 for the season with Saturday’s victory.

Saturday’s contest marks the Crimson’s ninth victory of the season, and their eighth win of at least 8-1. While this weekend was challenging for Harvard, the fight continues in the upcoming weeks with just a month left before CSA National Championships.

“We are looking forward to the rest of the season,” McLaughlin said.

—Staff writer Caroline L. Ferguson can be reached at carolineferguson@college.harvard.edu.