No. 3 Men’s Squash Toughened by Loss to No. 1 Trinity

Four of the first six matches went the distance, but the top-ranked Trinity Bantams (15-0) stole the lot in their defeat the No. 3 Harvard men's squash, 7-2, on Tuesday night in the Kellner Squash Center. The Crimson (11-2) led in all three matches of the first wave, but the Bantams rallied behind the support of their home crowd to come back and steal the momentum for a 3-0 lead that they did not surrender.
Adam Corcoran was the first Harvard student-athlete to win his match. The freshman from Winchester, U.K., used four frames and two extra-point games to defeat Aryaman Adik at No. 8. Corcoran finishes the dual season 11-1.
Senior David Ryan added Harvard's second and final point of the night in the third wave. The captain swept Rick Penders, 11-8, 11-3, 11-7, at No. 4 and pushed his record to a perfect 12-0 in dual matches this season.
Sophomore Sean Hughes' match was ominous. The Newton Square, Pa. native fell in his opening game to Michael Craig, but stormed back to take a 2-1 lead. Hughes then lost the fourth frame and was down several match-points in the fifth, before pulling within one, 10-9. In the midst of a very long rally, Craig put the ball too close to the glass for Hughes to get and ended the first match of the day. The loss was the first of Hughes' (26-1) career at Harvard.
Senior Bradley Smith and freshman Samuel Scherl suffered similar fates. Smith dropped his first game against Andrew Lee at No. 9, but took the next two. Smith fell in an extra-point fourth game, before dropping the fifth. Scherl took a two-game lead at No. 6, but lost the following three games.
Then, Madhav Dhingra fell to Tom De Mulder in straight games, 11-5, 11-9, 11-5, at No. 5. Corcoran then delivered Harvard's first point, 4-1, before the match was sealed moments later when Timothy Brownell fell in a five-game contest at No. 2 in the final pairing of the second wave.
First-year Julien Gosset was defeated in a four-game match at No. 7, before Ryan knocked-off Penders to give the Crimson its second point.
In the final match of the night, Saadeldin Abouaish fell to Kush Kumar, 3-1.
The Crimson will be off until returning to Trinity for the CSA Team Championship on Friday, Feb. 23.
Results
1. Kush Kumar def. Saadeldin Abouaish (H), 11-7, 8-11, 11-6, 11-9
2. Thoboki Mohohlo def. Timothy Brownell (H), 11-7, 7-11, 11-6, 10-12, 11-7
3. Michael Craig def. Sean Hughes (H), 11-4, 6-11, 5-11, 11-5, 11-9
4. David Ryan (H) def. Rick Penders, 11-8, 11-3, 11-7
5. Tom De Mulder def. Madhav Dhingra (H), 11-5, 11-9, 11-5
6. Ziad Sakr def. Samuel Scherl (H), 8-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-5
7. Omar Allaudin def. Julien Gosset (H), 3-11, 11-9 11-2, 12-10
8. Adam Corcoran (H) def. Aryaman Adik , 14-12, 12-10, 7-11, 11-5
9. Andrew Lee def. Bradley Smith (H), 11-7, 7-11, 9-11, 12-10, 11-8