HomeArticles2017 Men's National Team Championships: Day 2 Afternoon Report

2017 Men’s National Team Championships: Day 2 Afternoon Report

Cambridge, MA — Trinity College will play Harvard University for the Men’s National Team Championship tomorrow.

A Division (Potter Cup): Coming into today’s semifinal, it looked like hosts Harvard and top-seeded Trinity would sail into the finals. In early February, the Crimson had defeated their semifinal opponent, Columbia, by a convincing 8-1 margin. A week ago, Trinity had likewise sent St. Lawrence back upstate with an 8-1 loss. In 2015, the same four teams had reached the semifinals, with Trinity defeating Columbia en route to a national title over St. Lawrence, who had edged out Harvard in the semifinals.

In today’s matches, Trinity jumped out to a 3-0 lead over St. Lawrence after the first round of matches. St. Lawrence got on the board first in the second round with a four-game win at #5, and they began to close the gap even more with another win at #2. A five-game win at #8 preserved the Bantams’ lead. Coming into the final flight of matches, Trinity needed one more match to secure a spot in the finals. All three third-round matches went past three games, with St. Lawrence keeping the pressure on as long as possible. But Trinity took the #7 match to punch their ticket to the finals. The final score was Trinity 7, St. Lawrence 2.

Columbia put some early pressure on Harvard, taking two of three first flight matches to three games. But Harvard got the edge in both, emerging from the first round with a 3-0 lead. A come-from-behind five-game win at #5 put Columbia on the board in the second round, followed by another Lions’ win at #2. Harvard won the third match of the flight to take a 4-2 lead into the final round. Harvard got the win they needed with the first match in the third round, a three-game win at #4. The final score was Harvard 5, Columbia 4.

Trinity and Harvard will play for the Potter Cup and the national title tomorrow at 1 pm at Harvard.

B Division (Hoehn Cup): George Washington both upset their first-round opponent to advance to today’s semifinals. Could the Colonials pull off a second upset? In the first B Division semifinal of the afternoon, GW faced top-seeded Dartmouth, a team they hadn’t played during the regular season.

Dartmouth went out to an early lead and didn’t look back. The Big Green clinched the victory early, though George Washington took wins in the top third of the ladder. The final score was Dartmouth 7, George Washington 2.

Dartmouth will play the winner of the semifinal match between Princeton and Cornell for the Hoehn Cup. In the first consolation semifinal, Western Ontario defeated F&M, 5-4.

C Division (Summers Cup): Middlebury will play Virginia for the Summers Cup tomorrow. In the consolation semifinals, MIT defeated Amherst, 6-3, and Dickinson defeated Colby, 5-4.

D Division (Conroy Cup): Hobart will play Wesleyan for the Conroy Cup tomorrow.

E Division: (Chaffee Cup):  The Chaffee Cup semifinals are underway. In the consolation semifinals, Denison swept Bard while Chicago and Washington dueled through the final match, with Chicago taking the 5-4 win.

F Division (Serues Cup): The Serues Cup semifinals are scheduled for this evening.

G Division (Hawthorn Cup): The Hawthorn Cup semifinals are underway. In the consolation semifinals, USC defeated  Swarthmore 7-2, and Lafayette defeated Bryant, also by a score of 7-2.

H Division: As round robin play continued, North Carolina defeated Siena 8-1 in Pool A, and Brandeis defeated Sewanee 5-4 in Pool B.

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