Top-seeded and undefeated Harvard University and cinderella-story 6-seed Drexel University met in the Howe Cup (National Championship) Final on Sunday afternoon at Harvard’s Murr Center, and it was the Crimson who emerged victorious. Drexel gave Harvard a scare in the early-going, but the Crimson players in the first wave regrouped to take a 3-0 lead, never looking back from there.
The finals started with Numbers 1, 5, and 9 on court to start the competition. Whether it was Drexel’s adrenaline carried over from yesterday’s upset of Trinity, a few early-match jitters from Harvard’s younger players, or a mix of both, Drexel took 2-0 and 2-1 leads at 5 and 9. Harvard’s Serena Daniel and Brecon Welch, both competing in their first Howe Cup, then righted the ship and got into the legs of the Drexel players, who had an exhausting match against 2-seed Trinity in the semifinal. Both rookies captured close comeback five-game wins, and paired with No. 1 Hana Moataz’s three-gamer over Drexel’s Karina Tyma, Harvard had the 3-0 lead they really desired.
Quickly after Moataz’s win, Harvard’s No. 2 Marina Stefanoni stepped on court against yesterday’s hero for Drexel, Alina Bushma, a Ukrainian native playing inspired squash in honor of her family and friends back in Kyiv. Bushma won an intense five-game match against Trinity the day before, while Stefanoni was fresh, and the difference in energy and precision was clear. Stefanoni won in three games to give Harvard its fourth point.
With the home crowd cheering them on, Harvard’s No. 6 Evie Coxon and No. 7 Charlotte Orcutt made it a race to see who could capture the clinching point for their team. Coxon had a head start, and even though her match also went to five games, she closed out opponent Brooke Herring to clinch Harvard’s seventh straight Howe Cup title. Orcutt followed shortly after with her own 3-0 win.
The lone bright spot on the scoreboard for Drexel came from No. 8 player Amirah Rosli, who bounced back from a lost first game to claim a 3-1 victory. Harvard senior Amina Yousry finished her Howe Cup career with a win at No. 3, as did rookie Habeeba Eldefrawy at No. 4.
Harvard has won the championship in nine of the last 11 fully-played seasons, reaching the final in all of them. This victory was also the team’s 98th in a row dating back to the 2014 Howe Cup final, which Trinity won.
Cornell faced Ivy League rival Dartmouth in the Kurtz Cup Final on Sunday and quickly showed why they were the odd team left out of the Howe Cup draw at the end of the regular season. The final match of the day went Dartmouth’s way, but Cornell’s strength at the top of the ladder staked the Big Red to an insurmountable lead.
Cornell University won the B Division in both the women’s and the men’s team championships this season.
William Smith and Dickinson went toe-to-toe in an exciting battle on Sunday morning at Harvard. The difference were two five-game wins for William Smith where each player came back from 2-games-to-1 down to claim crucial victories.
Like Cornell, William Smith matched their cross campus brethren with a trophy of their own, earning the C Division title while the Hobart men won the D Division last weekend.
Colby had a tough year, only earning their first victory of the season during the NESCAC Championship event, but it all came together during Epps Cup play this weekend. Led by strong play at the top of their lineup, Colby outlasted a great effort by a Georgetown squad taking part in their first Team Championship competition as a varsity team.
