New Haven, CT — Colgate University defeated Northwestern University to win the 2016 Hawthorn Cup.
The first round saw several close matches. The number 3 match went to five games, with Colgate regrouping in the fifth to get a win onto the board. The first three games of the number 9 match went to tie-breakers, and Colgate won in four. Even the number 6 match, which went to Northwestern in three, was decided 14-12 in the third.
As the Raiders began to pull away in the second round, the contests were still close. The number 8 match went to five, with the last two games decided 12-10; Northwestern hung on to beat out Colgate. The number 5 match went to four and also saw games decided in tie-breakers; it went to Colgate. It only took three games to decide the number 2 match in Colgate’s favor, but the first two games in particular were close.
Going into the third round of matches, the score was Colgate 4, Northwestern 2. The Raiders needed just one more win to claim the match, and they got two three-game wins at number 1 and number 4. Northwestern pulled out one last win at number 7.
The final score was Colgate 6, Northwestern 3.
This is Colgate’s first G Division title and their first division championship since 2007. Members of the late Bob Hawthorn’s family presented the Hawthorn Cup to Colgate. Hawthorn, a legendary coach at Fordham, received the CSA’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998 and was inducted in the Men’s College Squash Hall of Fame in 2005.
