Saturday marked the semifinal round of the 2020 College Squash Association (CSA) National Collegiate Men’s Team Championships, and for college squash fans, it did not disappoint. With the full day in the books, the finals are set for a great culmination of the men’s team season.
All results from the first two days are available via the Tournament Homepage. The live streamed video of the first two days is available through the College Squash YouTube channel and can be accessed using the links on the tournament homepage as well.
Potter Division
The semifinals of the Potter Division presented a big contrast in results, but it is hard to choose which is more impressive. Top-seed Harvard welcomed Princeton to their home courts for the second time this season, and they replicated the result in dominating fashion. The Harvard players surrendered only three games in the entire match on their way to 9-0 win.
In the other semifinal, 2-seed Trinity and 3-seed Penn faced off in a monumental battle. Penn jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the first wave by a razor thin margin after capturing two five-game marathons. Trinity’s big-game experience helped them persevere in the second wave, winning two out of three matches, keeping the win within striking distance. With the last wave of three matches on court at the same time, the final result was still in doubt when two of those contests entered their fifth game. Taking the bull by the horns, it was Penn’s Wil Hagen who struck first, clinching the winning team point for Penn, sending the Quakers to their first ever Potter Cup final in program history.
One of the matches in contention for Match of the Day was the Potter consolation semifinal between Yale and Virginia. Yale appeared to be in control, jumping out to a 4-1 lead, but Virginia gradually turned the tide in their favor. Critical five-game wins at numbers 5 and 9 gave Virginia a shot, and then first-year sensation Aly Hussein completed the 5-4 comeback victory with a three-game win at number 1. Virginia will meet Rochester tomorrow for fifth place after the Yellowjackets exacted revenge on Drexel after losing to them in the regular season.
Hoehn Division
Familiar foes Columbia and Cornell will meet in tomorrow’s Hoehn Cup final after deceivingly tough victories on Saturday. After losing to Dartmouth during the regular season, Cornell was out for pay back and earned it on the backs of two five-game wins in the first two waves of matches. Cornell’s No. 5 Nicholas Goth Errington clinched the second of those marathon battles, setting up the match-winning point for teammate Veer Chotrani.
Columbia had a slightly more comfortable 7-2 win over third-seeded Western Ontario, but they felt the challenge all the way through the match. Despite going down 2-1 after the first wave, Columbia recovered to run off six straight match victories. Columbia won the Ivy League match-up against Cornell during the season, but as fans are finding out, the championships wipe that slate clean.
Like the Potter Division, there was excitement in the Hoehn consolation bracket as well. Brown claimed an upset victory over George Washington, riding a hot start to a 5-4 win. Brown will meet Franklin & Marshall tomorrow, who outlasted a game MIT squad, 6-3.
Summers Division
The excitement continued all the way into the late-night session at Harvard with finals berths for the Summers Division on the line. Navy and Middlebury went toe-to-toe the entire evening, resulting in a 5-4 win for the NESCAC team from Vermont. The contest hinged on the number 5 match between Middlebury’s Nate Moll and Navy’s Ryan York. Moll fought back from 2-1 down to eek out a 12-10 game four win, then steamrolled to the match win in the fifth. Middlebury takes on familiar rival Williams in the Summers Cup final tomorrow after Williams handled the challenge from Bates, 8-1.
The theme of exciting matches taking place in the consolation semis continued during the evening session with both matches ending in 5-4 scorelines. Bowdoin took care of business against an injury-depleted Amherst squad, and in the final match of the night, Colby withstood a tough upset bid from Tufts.
Conroy Division
In one of the only division finals to work out according to seed, top-seeded Dickinson College and second-seeded Hamilton will meet in the Conroy Cup final tomorrow morning. Dickinson showed their strength as the number one seed, surrendering their lone loss during the second wave of matches. Hamilton had a tougher challenge on their hands with the upstart Chatham squad on the hunt for another upset. This time, however, Hamilton’s team depth and championship experience prevailed over Chatham’s momentum and enthusiasm, winning the match 6-3.
In the consolation draw, Wesleyan and California-Berkeley will face off in the fifth-place match. Wesleyan repeated their winning result from the regular season against 7-seed Haverford, while Cal prevailed over a depleted St. Lawrence side, 6-3. Cal has already clinched the title of highest ranked club team of the 2019-2020 season.
Chaffee Division
The only other division final to finish as seeded was the Chaffee Division, where 1-seed Hobart and 2-seed Fordham are set to meet for the second time this year. Hobart dispatched fifth seeded Northeastern fairly comfortably, earning an 8-1 victory in fairly short order. The only loss was a default in the number 8 position. Fordham’s winning margin of 7-2 was similar, but the road to earn the victory was much different against 3-seed New York University. Every match but one went past three games, and although NYU captured two five-game wins, Fordham overcame their city rivals in the rest of the contests.
The Chaffee consolation draw played out to its conclusion on Saturday evening, with Denison taking the fifth-place match against University of Chicago by a 6-3 margin. In the consolation playoff, Bard pulled the mini-upset against seventh seed Washington University in St. Louis. Bard went 2-1 in the last wave of matches to clinch the 5-4 win.
Serues Division
One of the Cinderella runs of the tournament could be the Serues sixth seed, Boston University, making a run to the final to face top-seeded Bucknell. BU put together a grind-it-out performance today, taking out 2-seed Georgetown by a 6-3 margin. Once again, all but one of the matches went past three games, and Boston University closed it out when it counted. Bucknell had a similar battle with 4-seed Richmond, also emerging victorious with 6-3 win, this time on the strength of the top of their lineup.
In match-ups consisting of historic college sports powerhouses, North Carolina and Stanford claimed victories over Michigan and Northwestern, respectively. North Carolina’s win over the Wolverines was particularly close, but the 5-4 win went the way of the Tar Heels in the end. Stanford overcame losses at the top two spots in the ladder to capture the 7-2 win and a spot in the fifth-place match.
Hawthorn Division
The Hawthorn Division final will have a prime spot during the late morning at Harvard tomorrow and will feature two teams with good tournament experience. Lehigh University brought ninth-seeded Lafayette’s Cinderella run to an abrupt end with a 9-0 sweep. The match of the day was the number one tilt between Lafayette’s Jack Burton and Lehigh’s Sam Ghorashi, which Ghorashi clinched with 12-10 win in the fifth game.
Second seed Vassar College will meet Lehigh in tomorrow’s final after their experience and depth carried them to a 5-4 win over Duke University. With convincing wins in four of the lower five rungs of the ladder, Vassar was able to turn the team effort into a chance to bring home some hardware tomorrow. Other winners on the day include Johns Hopkins University, Indiana University, and Swarthmore College.
