Harvard Beats Trinity in Men's National Championship Finals by David Kingsley
Harvard coach Mike Way
February 16, 2014 - Cambridge, Mass.
- The Harvard University Crimson took the momentum with a pair of 3-2
victories in the first wave and never gave it back in a 9-0 win over
the visiting Trinity College Bantams in the College Squash Association
(CSA) National Team Championship (Potter Trophy) Finals this afternoon
at the Murr Center. Playing in its 18th consecutive Potter Trophy
Finals, 2013 National Champion Trinity loses in the last round for just
fourth time in those 18 appearances. The Bantams complete the
2013-14 team campaign with a 18-2 record, with both losses coming
against Harvard. The Crimson complete an 18-0 season with their
first title since 1998.
“We lost to a better
team today in a tough environment, but we definitely had our chances
early to make this a much different match;” said Trinity Head Coach
Paul Assaiante. “ When Elshorafy had match ball and Mackin, who
played brilliantly against an opponent who he lost to, 3-0, earlier
this year, was tied 2-2 it looked like we could really get something
going. Once Harvard pulled those matches out, however, we
couldn’t recover. We gave a magnificent effort yesterday against
Yale, and this one got away from us, but I believe if we played against
these guys tomorrow we would definitely have a chance to win.
Harvard played very well and deserves this one, but I am still
extremely proud of this team.”
Harvard took a 1-0
lead on a 3-0 victory in the No. 3 match by freshman Dylan Murray
(Bronxville, N.Y.), while Trinity sophomore Zeyad Elshorafy
(Alexandria, Egypt) had opened up a 2-0 lead at No. 6. Crimson
rookie Bryan Koh (Singapore) came all the way back with a 3-2 win over
Elshorafy and Trinity senior captain Matthew Mackin (Greenwich, Conn.)
nearly matched the effort with an 11-9 win in the fourth game of the
No. 9 match after being down, 2-1, against Harvard junior Tyler Olson
(Victoria British Columbia) but fell short in the fifth game, 11-5.
Trailing, 3-1, Trinity
showed plenty of fight, as sophomore No. 2 Karan Malik (Mumbai, India)
won the second and third games against Harvard senior co-captain
Brandon McLaughlin (Villanova, Pa.), although Crimson senior Nigel Koh
(Singapore) earned a 3-0 win in the No. 5 spot for a 4-0 Harvard
lead. McLaughlin won, 11-2, in the fourth game, but Malik rallied
to a 10-10 tie in the match-deciding fifth game before McLaughlin
sealed the win for Harvard with a 12-1- triumph in front of a large and
raucous crowd on the glass courts.
MATCH RESULTS 1. H- Ali Farag d. Miled Zarazua, 11-1, 11-5, 11-5 2. H- Brandon McLaughlin d. Karan Malik, 13-11, 8-11, 8-11, 11-2, 12-10 3. H- Dylan Murray d. Vrishab Kotian, 13-11, 11-6, 11-7 4. H- Gary Power d. Juan Vargas, 11-13, 8-11, 11-5, 11-4 5. H- Nigel Koh d. Elroy Leong, 11-7, 11-8, 11-8 6. H- Bryan Koh d. Zeyad Elshorafy, 7-11, 6-11, 15-13, 13-11, 11-3 7. H- Nicholas Hopcroft d. Moustafa Hamada, 14-12, 11-9, 11-8 8. H- Tom Mullaney d. Affeeq Ismail, 11-9, 11-8, 12-10 9. H- Tyler Olson d. Matthew Mackin, 11-7, 8-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-5 Harvard 9, Trinity (Conn.) 0
