Cambridge, MA — This afternoon saw Harvard and Trinity advance to the national championship final as the action continued at the 2014 Men’s National Team Championships.
A Division (Potter Cup): Harvard fans packed the Murr Center to cheer on the home team in their semifinal match against Franklin & Marshall. During introductions, Harvard recognized the seniors on the team, and several players’ mothers came on court with their sons. The crowd was also treated to an epic speech by F&M associate head coach Ron Epps. On court, the Crimson made quick work of the Diplomats, advancing to the Potter Cup final without dropping a match. In fact, the team only lost three games overall, winning six of the nine matches 3-0. In the other A Division semifinal, defending champions Trinity earned another shot at the Potter Cup with an 8-1 win over Yale. Trinity swept the first flight of matches and built momentum from there. Though it was a long match, the Bantams never lost control. Harvard defeated Trinity 7-2 in Hartford during the regular season, and the top-seeded Crimson will be sure to pack the house again for tomorrow’s match. If Trinity’s ever-boisterous fans can brave the snow tomorrow, there should be a great crowd for the final.
B Division (Hoehn Cup): Princeton and Columbia advanced to the B Division final earlier in the day.
C Division (Summers Cup): Bowdoin defeated Hamilton in the consolation semifinals.
D Division (Conroy Cup): The top two seeds in the D Division have both advanced to the final. Connecticut College, the top seed, defeated Bucknell 7-2 in one semifinal, while second-seeded Hobart defeated Stanford 8-1. The Camels defeated the Statesmen 5-4 during the regular season, so tomorrow’s match should be close. Stanford and Bucknell will play for 27th place in the tournament; the winner will also be crowned the top club team in the nation.
E Division: (Chaffee Cup): The semifinals between Tufts and Northeastern and between Denison and Boston College were scheduled to start at 3:30 pm.
F Division (Serues Cup): Tournament newcomers Richmond advanced to the consolation final with a 6-3 win over Swarthmore. Tomorrow the Spiders will play Penn State, who defeated Northwestern 6-3 in the other consolation semifinal.
G Division (Hawthorn Cup): Bryant is on a roll. After upsetting top-seeded Fordham yesterday, the Bulldogs dispatched USC 7-2 to advance to the Hawthorn Cup final. In the consolation bracket, Washington outlasted Siena, 5-4.
H Division: Minnesota took on Sewanee and Vanderbilt faced Notre Dame in round robin play this afternoon. The scores have yet to be reported.
