No. 12 Men's Squash Set for Hoehn Cup Opener Friday vs. No. 13 Brown

HOEHN CUP DRAW (PDF)

PHILADELPHIA – The No. 12 Drexel men's squash team begins its run at the Hoehn Cup against No. 13 Brown Friday morning in the quarterfinals at the College Squash Association Men's Team Nationals in Hartford, Conn. The winner will advance to the semifinals on Saturday against the winner of No. 9 Yale and No. 16 Navy.

The Dragons enter the match with a 7-10 record overall on the year.

Last Time Out
The No. 12 Drexel men's squash team closed out the regular season with a victory Sunday afternoon on Senior Day as the Dragons downed No. 21 Middlebury at the Kline & Specter Squash Center, 7-2. Before the match, Drexel honored its four men's seniors – Cillian Dunne, Nat Fry, Atticus Kelly and Noel Solomon.

The Dragons hung tough as the Panthers gave them everything, but Drexel came up with victories at key positions. Drexel was able to weather a retirement at No. 2 and a four-game loss at No. 3 in the win. Bransten Ming cruised to victory at No. 1 over Will Cembalest, 11-8, 11-6, 11-5. After two losses, Dylan Kachur came up with a four-game win over Henry Pearson, 12-10, 11-9, 5-11, 11-9, before Fry took his Senior Day match over Wiatt Hinton, 11-3, 12-10, 8-11, 11-7. At No. 6, Solomon came back from losing the first two games to beat John Epley, 4-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-6. Joshua Hughes cruised past Alexander Merrill, 11-5, 11-3, 11-5, before Dunne held off a pesky Thomas Wolpow, 11-8, 7-11, 6-11, 11-3, 11-6. Royston Raymond closed out the lineup with a five-game victory over Ryan Swope, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-13, 11-5.

Scouting Brown
Brown enters play at the Hoehn Cup with a 7-7 regular-season record and the No. 13 national ranking. The Bears closed out the final weekend of the regular season with a sweep of No. 20 Williams before falling to No. 5 Dartmouth and No. 3 Harvard. Senior Thomas Blecher and freshman Maximo Moyer hold down the top two ladder positions for Brown. Stuart leGassick has guided the Brown men's program since 1989.

Series History with Brown
The Dragons and the Bears did not meet during the 2017-18 regular season. They, however, have met on three previous occasions. The Dragons hold a 2-1 advantage in the series. The last time the two teams met, the then-No. 9 Dragons swept the then-No. 16 Bears, 9-0, on Feb. 26, 2016 in New Haven, Conn. in the first round of the Hoehn Cup.

Hoehn Cup Outlook
No. 9 Yale and No. 16 Navy are on the same side of the bracket as Drexel and Brown. The winners of each match will meet in the semifinals on Saturday. The other side of the draw features No. 10 George Washington against No. 15 Cornell and No. 11 Western Ontario against No. 14 Virginia. The final will take place Sunday at 11 a.m.

Looking Ahead
The winner of the Drexel-Brown quarterfinal will take on the winner of the Yale-Navy quarterfinal in semifinals on Friday at 11:30 a.m.