In Photos: CSA Men's Squash Championship
By Owen A. Berger, Crimson Staff WriterIn what can only be described as dominant, the men’s squash team routed the competition at every step on their way to the CSA title from Feb. 28, 2020, to March 1, 2020, at the Harvard Murr Center. The team played Drexel, Princeton, and Penn on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday on its way to the championship, losing only one match over the entire weekend.
Playing on adjacent courts, George R. Crowne ‘22 and Timothy R. Brownell ‘20 both defeated their Drexel opponents in straight sets on Friday afternoon. In the quarterfinals, No. 1 Harvard won every match against No. 8 Drexel, setting up a semifinal matchup with No. 4 Princeton.
Before playing in the one spot, the top position in a squash lineup, Victor Crouin ’22 received some advice from teammates on his way back onto the court for his quarterfinal match against Drexel. Crouin dropped the first set of his match, one of only two that Harvard dropped the entire day, but roared back to win 3-1.
During his semifinal match, Saadeldin E. Abouaish ’20 returned a shot in the corner in front of the glass against Princeton. His match went almost twice as long as any other match of the day, as he battled back from down two sets to one to win his match in five sets, boosting the momentum of the charging Harvard squad.
Fans started to turn up in droves on Saturday to watch Harvard’s semifinal match. The team defeated No. 4 Princeton 9-0, setting up a grudge match for the finals on Sunday against No. 3 Penn.
Marwan Tarek ‘22, playing out of the two spot, started the championship day off on the glass court, defeating his Penn counterpart 3-0 to help Harvard jump out to an early lead.
Head coach Mike Way advised Victor Crouin ‘22 as Marwan Tarek ‘22 looked on during Crouin’s final round match. By the time Victor took the court around 3 p.m. on Sunday, Harvard needed only one more match in order to clinch the championship.
Victor Crouin '22 returned a tough shot in his finals-round match as his opponent looked on. The sophomore dropped the second set of the match but won the fourth set 16-14 to win his final match of the season. However, as his match had waged on, other matches around the Murr Center had already decided the tournament.
Samuel B. Scherl ’21 listened to assistant coach Hameed Ahmed and his teammates during his final match on Sunday. Scherl lost the first set but battled back to go up 2-1 going into the fourth set of the match.
Scherl clinched his final match with a dominant fourth set, giving Harvard an overall 4-0 lead over Penn. With one more win, Harvard would capture its second consecutive national championship.
The deciding win belonged, in the end, to Adam J. Corcoran ’21. With his four-set victory, Harvard won the CSA championship and mobbed Corcoran as he left the court.
The team looks on in awe at the championship trophy. The final score of the match on Sunday was 6-1. Over the course of 25 individual matches, Harvard only lost one.
At the end of the day, Harvard savored its hard-fought victory. The title wrapped up a dominant season for the team, and for the second straight year, the Crimson went into the off-season on top.