Squash Sweeps Dartmouth in Season Openers

The No. 1 Crimson men’s squash team (1-0, 1-0 Ivy) opened its official start of the season at the Murr Center on Tuesday with a win against No. 11 Dartmouth. While the overall score of the game showed a decisive Harvard victory, the individual match scores showed how difficult it was for players to best their Big Green opponents.

HARVARD 7, DARTMOUTH 2.

“We didn’t play our best,” captain Tyler Olson said. “I think everyone else sort of had their B-game this time. From a captain’s point of view, it was motivation to prepare and train harder for two really tough matches this weekend.”

After having lost a number of seniors in top positions last year, the Crimson has added three freshmen who are expected to play at the top of the ladder this year. In Tuesday’s game, freshman Madhav Dhingra and classmate Bradley Smith competed at the number one and two spots, respectively, and swept their opponents, 3-0.

“When Madhav put it together, he played very well with only a few mental lapses, and Bradley Smith played a very clinical game that went very smoothly,” Harvard coach

Michael Way said. “These young freshmen have all had a lot of tournament experience in the junior level. They’ve all shown their mettle and their maturity, and they’ve earned those spots in many challenge matches with upperclassmen on the team.”

Junior Sam Goldberg played at the seventh spot on the ladder, besting Dartmouth opponent Brian Giegerich in four games. Olson also notched another victory for Harvard in the sixth seed by beating his opponent in five games.

“In the huddle before the match, we were telling the guys to stick to their game plans and not to take this game too lightly,” Olson said. “We knew we were better than who we were playing, but it was just a matter of not being too confident.”

Sophomores Dylan Murray, Bryan Koh, and junior Matt Roberts won their matches in three games, but Murray and Koh’s first games were decided by tiebreakers.

The two Crimson losses came from the eighth and ninth spots. Dartmouth sophomore Glen Brickman and freshman John Harvey secured Dartmouth’s only matches on the evening. Harvard is currently missing two or three players who would have played Tuesday if not for injuries.

“A number of matches went very long today,” Way said. “Nearly every guy was down either in the whole match or in one game, and that was a big wake-up call. The coaches are very happy that we had this tight match today, and Dartmouth pushed our guys very hard until the end. Today we got a good result when we weren’t playing our best, but tomorrow we’ll wake up and play better to prepare for the next time around.”

HARVARD 9, DARTMOUTH 0

After dropping a 5-4 decision to Princeton last month in the Ivy Scrimmages, the No. 1 Crimson women’s squash team (1-0, 1-0 Ivy) came back strong on Tuesday night, sweeping all Dartmouth opponents in a 9-0 victory at the Murr Center.

“For the women, it was business-like in their approach,” Way said. “They went about their work in a very methodical way. They weren’t overconfident, and they were prepared for their matches. They were disciplined and mentally clear, which showed in the ending score.”

With 3-0 wins in all nine spots, the Crimson handled No. 11 Dartmouth efficiently.

Captain Megan Murray won her match in the seventh spot, 11-2, 11-2, 11-7.

While senior Amanda Sobhy played the number one spot last year, sophomore Katherine Tutrone made quick work Dartmouth’s top seed, Helena Darling, quickly after a close first game. Sobhy did not play.

Freshman Alyssa Mehta and classmate Sue Ann Yong both made official season debuts at the second and fourth seeds, respectively.

Mehta allowed Big Green junior Lydie McKenzie only two points total, with a shutout, 11-0, in the last game.

Yong, meanwhile, surrendered only 11 points  over three games, closing out her match with Big Green senior Oona Morris with a pair of 11-4 wins.

“[The freshman players] both played really well,” Way said. “There wasn’t a bad match from our perspective on the women’s side. They all stayed disciplined and they were prepared.”

—Staff writer Emily T. Wang can be reached at emilywang@college.harvard.edu.