Princeton Falls to Second Division at College Nationals, Weekend's Matches Set Top Championship Spots by David Keating
Cornell Men's Team
February 9, 2014
- None of the complicated seeding scenarios that were possible heading
into the weekend came to pass as Cornell men, Penn men and Dartmouth
women took control this weekend, but there was plenty of tension and
excitement for each team’s squash fans this weekend. Harvard men captured
the Ivy title with a 6-3 win at Yale and a 9-0 win at home against
Brown. Harvard women also won the Ivy title by beating Brown. Cornell dominated Penn
8-1 at home Friday evening, erasing Penn’s hope to secure a #7 seeding
and national ranking. The most dramatic match sealed the eighth
win for Cornell, and the large margin effectively eliminated
Princeton’s hope of climbing back to #7 in the rankings.
Sophomore Graham Dietz was last to play, and despite building a 2-1
lead, he dropped game four and then fell behind 4-10 in the fifth
against freshman George Lemmon. Dietz didn’t give up, and fought
off an incredible six match balls on the way to racking up eight
straight points to pull out a 12-10 victory. However, Lemmon more
than redeemed himself Sunday night by delivering a crisp three game win
over Columbia’s Alec Goldberg to win the deciding match in a tight 5-4
win for his team. Penn’s win sealed their top eight ranking and
seeding at the national championships, the first time the team has made
the Potter Cup, the top division, since 2009. Penn assistant
coach Gilly Lane tweeted after the match “So proud of my teams today!
Amazing improvement for Penn Squash this year. I can honestly say I am
a happy friend, alum, coach, and fan.” Penn’s depth delivered for
the team, with a sweep of matches at ladder positions five through nine
after a close five game loss at #4. Penn’s win over
Columbia combined with a tight 6-3 loss for Princeton to Cornell meant
Princeton will miss Potter Cup competition due to its end of season #9
ranking. It was just the third
time in Cornell history that the men have defeated Princeton, but the
second year in a row for the Big Red to triumph. Senior Bryan
Keating won a competitive three game match to deliver the deciding
fifth match win for his team, duplicating his 2013 feat where he
delivered the clinching match. Many of the matches were exciting,
with two-thirds of them going to four or five games. Cornell took
a 2-1 lead on the first shift, but Princeton evened the match at 3-3
after the second. Cornell then swept the final three matches with
2013 All-American Nick Sachvie and Keating winning in three and Graham
Dietz again winning in five. The visiting Dartmouth
women beat Brown 6-3 to ensure their #8 ranking and Howe Cup
placement. Six of the nine matches went to either four or five
games. The men’s national
championships will be played at Harvard starting Friday, while the
women face off at Princeton beginning the following week.
