Hartford, CT — The semifinal match-ups have been decided in most divisions after a wild afternoon of play.
A Division (Potter Cup): Host Trinity was the first team through to the Potter Cup semifinals. The Bantams sent the Quakers to the consolations with an 8-1 win. Penn’s sole victory came at #1, as Marwan Mahmoud defeated Vrishab Kotian in five. St. Lawrence sailed past Franklin & Marshall with a 9-0 win. The Saints won each of the top four matches in three games, but the contests grew more and more competitive down the ladder. Columbia made a splash in their first appearance in the A Division. The Lions won the top five matches to clinch comparatively early against Yale. The Harvard-Rochester quarterfinal wasn’t decided until the third flight of matches. Rochester had stunned the Crimson, the defending national champions, with a 5-4 upset during the regular season. In today’s match, Harvard senior Tyler Olson’s 12-10 win in the fifth against Aria Fazelimanesh at #7 helped the 5-4 match go the Crimson’s way. In tomorrow’s semifinals, Harvard will play St. Lawrence, and Trinity will face Columbia.
B Division (Hoehn Cup): Drexel advanced to the B Division semifinals with a 6-3 win over Williams. The Dragons will face Princeton tomorrow; the Tigers are the top seed in the division. Dartmouth and Cornell will play in the other semifinal. In the consolation semifinals, Navy will play George Washington, and Bates will face Williams.
C Division (Summers Cup): The match-ups for tomorrow’s Summers Cup semifinals will be Middlebury-Wesleyan and Western Ontario-Brown. Amherst and Colby will play in one consolation semifinal, and Bowdoin and Hobart will play in the other.
D Division (Conroy Cup): 2015 marks the second year the University of Chicago has competed at the Men’s National Team Championships. Last season, Chicago reached the finals of the F Division; this season, strong regular season wins boosted them to the D Division. Chicago won’t, however, be making a repeat trip to a division final, as they lost to top seeded Hamilton 9-0. Tufts proved that an early season victory over MIT was no fluke. The Jumbos sent the Engineers packing with a 6-3 win. Bucknell gave the Conn College Camels a run for their money, as seven of the nine matches went past three games. Conn’s depth helped them outlast the Bison, 6-3. With Chicago and Bucknell out of the main draw, Stanford and Virginia were playing for bragging rights as top club team in the nation. The Cardinal took that title with a 5-4 win over the Cavaliers. Tomorrow’s semifinals will feature Hamilton versus Tufts and Stanford versus Conn. In the consolations, Chicago and MIT will square off, as will Bucknell and Virginia.
E Division: (Chaffee Cup): A year ago, Denision came into the Men’s National Team Championships ranked 35th overall, and they won their first round match 7-2. The Big Red were ranked 35th again this year, and they also defeated their first round opponent, Northeastern, by a score of 7-2. New York University advanced to the semifinals with a convincing 8-1 win over Haverford. NYU will play Georgetown, who advanced earlier in the day, in one E Division semifinal. Denison will play the winner of the Johns Hopkins/Fordham match, which was scheduled to begin this evening.
F Division (Serues Cup): Northwestern and Boston University will meet in tomorrow’s F Division semifinals. The Huskies’ depth helped them clinch early against tournament newcomers Davidson. The Terriers posted a 7-2 win over Bryant. Colgate, who defeated Wash U by a score of 7-2, will face the winner of the Richmond/Boston College match in the other semifinal.
G Division (Hawthorn Cup): Although a number of matches went to four or five games, Swarthmore was still able to clinch victory early over Minnesota. Swarthmore will play the winner of Miami/Siena in tomorrow’s semifinals; the Hurricanes are making their first appearance at the Men’s National Team Championships. The F Division quarterfinals also featured a closely contested battle of two West Coast squads, the University of California Berkeley and the University of Washington. The Huskies’ BG Court won in five against the Golden Bears’ Giovanni Zenati, but in the end Cal edged out Washington in the overall team score, winning 5-4. A five-game win from Jeffrey Heath helped the College of Charleston lock down a win against Dickinson. Charleston will play Cal in the semifinals.
H Division: The H Division is being played as two round robin pools. Vassar, Ithaca, and Notre Dame are competing in one pool, and Bard, Vanderbilt, and Oregon are competing in the other. Two matches were scheduled for late this evening: Vassar versus Ithaca and Bard versus Oregon.
