Men's Squash Picks Up Two Victories in New York

Brimming with confidence after a victory against No. 8 Columbia, 5-4, on Saturday ended its three match losing streak, No. 7 the Harvard men’s squash team carried its momentum over to its match against No. 12 Cornell to close out the weekend.

Led by the exploits of sophomore Madhav Dhingra, the squad finished the weekend with two wins against ranked Ivy League competitors.

HARVARD, 8, CORNELL, 1

Unlike the previous day’s matches against Columbia, of which seven were 3-0 wins for either squad, the competition on Sunday at the Belkin International Squash Courts in Ithaca, N.Y. were more contested at the individual level. At the team level, however, the narrative was quite different.

Harvard won the bottom eight of the nine-man ladder. Cornell’s lone victor, junior Harry Freeman, bested sophomore David Ryan in straight sets at the first position, 11-6, 11-7, 11-5.

The Crimson continues to own this matchup. Harvard’s 8-1 victory over Cornell (3-8, 1-4 Ivy) tied for its most decisive win since it last swept the Big Red in the 2005 season.

At position eight, sophomore Seif Eleinen was able to continue his unbeaten streak with a contested five-game win. After winning the first two games to take an early lead, Eleinen was unable to put away Cornell sophomore Laid Hare who took the next two games to tie up the match, 2-2. A prolonged fourth set, won by Hare, 16-14, was needed to force the fifth. The second-year player did not have to go the distance, however, as his opponent defaulted by injury just four points into the final game.

Sophomore Bradley Smith, having lost his last four contests at the No. 2 slot, was able to get out of his mid-season slump by picking up his first win since the squad’s match against Princeton four weeks ago.

It was Dhingra, however, who owned the weekend by adding another solid victory to the previous day’s success.

“Madhav performed well winning both of his matches in 4 close games and I think he will continue to improve which is key for us at a very important No. 4 position,” Koh said. “Overall, most of the guys managed to turn their losses into wins today which was fantastic.”

HARVARD, 5, COLUMBIA, 4

With its victory at the SL Green StreetSquash Center in New York City, the Crimson (4-4, 4-1 Ivy League) which has yet to lose to Columbia (4-4, 2-2 Ivy) since the Lions’ squash team earned varsity status in 2010, improved its all time record to 6-0.

Having been on the wrong end of 5-4 decisions three times already this season, Harvard was determined to change that narrative this time around after almost letting an early lead slip away.

“It certainly feels great finally grinding out a tough one,” junior co-captain Devin McLaughlin said. “We knew that it was the little things that could make a big difference for us…. After making some of these mental adjustments and coming out on top, we are certainly going to use that momentum to push us forward.”

The team edged the Lions in the final wave of matches as Dhingra’s decisive win, 3-1, at the No. 4 slot propelled his side to a hard fought triumph.

“[Dhingra] went down 1-0, but quickly refocused and was able to grind out a very tough four game win,” McLaughlin said “He showed real heart and determination in that match, and we were all really proud of him.”

Earlier in the day, the Crimson hit the ground running in the first wave with wins by sophomore Mandela Patrick, and junior co-captains Brian Koh and McLaughlin helping the squad pull out to a 3-0 lead. Koh won by injury default after Lions sophomore Seif Attia retired in the second game of the match.

Columbia clawed its way back, however, to hold Harvard to a 4-2 advantage headed into the final three matches. A key victory, 3-0, by Eleinen preserved the Crimson’s lead and kept the squad from being swept in the second wave.

Losses by freshman Alexi Gosset at position three and Ryan at the first position set the final score. Ryan fell in straight sets to fellow sophomore Osama Khalifa, a finalist at the 2015 CSA Individual Championship in his freshman campaign for the Lions.

—Staff writer Jackson M. Reynolds can be reached at jackson.reynolds@thecrimson.com