Harvard University men’s squash team captured their 33rd College Squash Men’s National Championship—the Potter Cup—in commanding fashion on Sunday afternoon by a 9-0 score over Trinity College. Titles were awarded across seven divisions Sunday in the final day of the CSA Men’s Team Nationals.
Full results are available at www.csasquash.com/mensnationals2019.
Potter Division – National Championship
In a third straight national finals contest between Harvard and Trinity, the third time was the charm for Harvard in a dominating 9-0 performance. Now these two teams have won 49 of the 75 national titles ever awarded, an impressive record of dynastic dominance.
Looking for a fast start, Harvard sent out its two team captains and lone starting senior for the 3, 6, and 9 matches. No. 3 Timmy Brownell set the tone with a pulsating three-game win versus Trinity’s Tom De Mulder. Sean Hughes, Harvard’s No. 6, bounced back after a second-game loss to take the next two against Aryaman Adik. Harvard’s senior, Alexi Gosset, used fresh legs to come back from two games down against Trinity’s dangerous No. 9 Nku Patrick. A 3-0 first wave was exactly what Head Coach Mike Way was looking for.
From that point on, the writing was on the wall with Harvard prominently featured. Harvard’s No. 5 Saadeldin Abouaish dispatched Trinity’s Aly Tolba with ease, and then it was a race to see who would win Harvard’s clinching point. First-year player Marwan Tarek, Harvard’s No. 2, got to the finish line first in a dazzling match-up with Trinity’s Thoboki Mohohlo. Tarek wore down Mohohlo, and after the eleventh point fell Tarek’s way in the fifth game, the celebration was on inside the glass walls of Yale’s show court.
With the victory now in hand, the matches progressed quickly at Numbers 4, 8, 1, and 7. Soon thereafter, Harvard had the National Championship trophy in hand. It was Harvard’s 33rd College Squash National Championship, the most of any team in intercollegiate squash history.
Hoehn Division
George Washington was the lowest seed left in any final on Sunday, but their results on the court did not show it in the Hoehn Division final against Drexel. GW won this same match-up a week ago, and they showed no interest in giving Drexel momentum to change that result. After a 2-1 first wave for GW, they locked down the victory with all three wins in the second wave, including a key five-game victory by GW’s No. 2 Mohammad Al-Terki.
Although the seeding did not have them as favorites at the beginning of the weekend, GW captured their second straight Hoehn Division Championship with the win.
Summers Division
After upset victories in the semifinals of the Summers Division, both 3-seed Brown and 4-seed MIT were on the hunt for their first Summers Division title. MIT were the ones who were able to celebrate, and they did so early on, going 5-1 through the first two waves of matches. MIT’s No. 5 William Wu won the title-clinching point over Brown’s Harrison Boyer. Had the order of matches been different, Brown might have been able to flip the script, but their wins at No. 1 and No. 4 came after the match had been decided.
MIT will finish the season with their highest ranking ever at No. 17.
Conroy Division
Dickinson and Colby, the top two teams in the Conroy Division, steamrolled their way to the final on Sunday, but it was only Dickinson who continued that momentum. In a dominant display not even matched by National Champions Harvard, Dickinson went 3-0 on the weekend, winning each of its matches in sweeps, 9-0. Colby pushed Dickinson to four games at five different positions on the ladder, but none of its players could overcome their Dickinson opponent.
Adding additional intrigue to this match-up, the protégé beat the teacher with Dickinson Head Coach Chris Fernandez beating his former boss, Colby Head Coach Chris Abplanalp. This is the second division title for Dickinson in as many years.
Chaffee Division
Fordham fell just short of the Chaffee Division Championship last season, falling 5-4 in a close final. This year, Fordham left nothing to chance in their match against Northeastern, winning the match by a 6-3 score. The Rams went 2-1 in each of the three waves. While Northeastern captured two grueling five-game wins at No. 4 and 5, Fordham’s No. 7 Winthrop Reed and No. 1 William Douglass won their matches are virtually the same time to clinch the championship victory.
Serues Division
University of Richmond showed that it is a program on the rise with its second Serues Division championship of its young club’s history. The final 7-2 scoreline does not do justice to the competitive matches between 2-seed Richmond and 4-seed Boston College. Three of the matches went to five games, and it was Richmond’s 3-0 record in those matches that made the difference.
Richmond, who was the defending Hawthorn Division Champions, have jumped back up a full division in the rankings in just one year.
Hawthorn Division
The top two seeds in the Hawthorn Division – Lehigh and Colgate – met in a closely contested final on Sunday, with Colgate ultimately clinching the 5-4 win and the Hawthorn Cup. Colgate jumped out to a 3-0 lead, and then they held on as Lehigh came roaring back. Ultimately, it was too little, too late with Colgate clinching the fifth match point at the No. 7 position.
