Princeton University Athletics
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Men's Squash Nearly Springs Upset, Will Hope For One More Chance
February 01, 2006 | Men's Squash
Feb. 1, 2006
HARTFORD, Conn. - Trinity entered Wednesday riding a 134-match win streak in men's squash. Several hours into a highly anticipated showdown with No. 3 Princeton, the unthinkable was one point away. Amazingly, the unthinkable gave way to the even more unthinkable, and Trinity pulled out a thrilling 5-4 victory in a potential preview of the national championship match later this month.
Leading 4-2 after the second stage of matches (there were three stages overall; matches 3-6-9 were stage one, 2-5-8 were stage two and 1-4-7 were stage three), Princeton looked in position to end one of the greatest active streaks in all of intercollegiate athletics. It sent out its top gun, a young man who is gunning for an unprecedented individual feat in the sport, with the hopes of forcing Trinity's first loss since Feb. 22, 1998.
It wasn't to be. The three-time national champion took a two-game lead and earned a match ball, but Trinity freshman Gustav Detter showed composure far beyond his years. He rallied to win the final three games to push his Bantams to a 5-4 win.
"It was just a great match," an exhausted Bob Callahan said afterwards. "Our guys really competed today. We're hopeful that we can earn another shot at them at the team championships in Princeton."
More on that later, but there plenty of storylines in this regular season match. Princeton felt that it needed a 2-1 lead after the first stage of matches, and the Tigers got wins from a pair of players who had never beaten a Trinity opponent before.
No. 3 Kimlee Wong, one member of the highly touted Class of 2009, beat Jacques Swanepoel 9-7, 9-5, 9-2 to continue his already impressive debut season. Senior tri-captain Nate Beck was beaten in three games, but No. 9 player Tom McKay proved again to be one of Princeton's great competitors. Playing a longtime friend of his in Coly Smith, McKay jumped out to a 2-0 lead and slammed the door in the fourth game with a 9-0 win. The second stage also saw Princeton pull out two matches, including an amazing return performance from No. 8 player Dent Wilkens. After taking a year off and returning for the spring semester, Wilkens made his return match a memorable one with a 9-7, 9-0, 9-0 win. Yvain Badan beat Tiger junior Vincent Yu in three tight games, putting the pressure on freshman Mauricio Sanchez to win at No. 2.
Sanchez has been all that Callahan could have hoped for this season, but he raised his game another level on this evening. After falling into a 2-1 hole after three games, Sanchez went into attack mode and defeated Shaun Johnstone 9-2 and 9-2 in the fourth and fifth games. Johnstone entered the season as the fourth-ranked player in the country, but Sanchez pulled it out against the Bantam veteran.
With its back against the wall, Trinity showed the type of spirit that comes with a championship tradition. Sahil Vora and Manek Manthur each won 3-0 to even the match at 4-4, and all eyes focused on the main court. El Halaby won two hard-fought 9-7 games early, and served a match ball at 8-7. Detter won the point and pulled out a 10-8 victory in the third game. That inspired the home hero, who thrilled the locals with a pair of 9-2 games to clinch the match and extend the streak to 135 matches.
It's not likely that anybody associated with the program will forget match #135 anytime soon.
Of course, Princeton wants nothing more than one last chance against Trinity. Jadwin Gym will serve host to the CSA national team championships from Feb. 17-19. Trinity will enter as the favorite to win its eighth straight national championship, but Princeton knows it will be a tough out in the championships. The Tigers will need either a home victory against Yale this Saturday or a win at Harvard on Feb. 12 to clinch at least a No. 3 seed, which would keep them on the opposite side of the draw as Trinity.
Of course, both Yale and Harvard remain very real threats to leave Princeton with the national championship, but for one night, Tiger fans are left dreaming of that storybook ending to both the season and the home career of Yasser El Halaby.
If there is a Trinity-Princeton II this season, it sure has a tough act to follow.
No. 1 Trinity 5, No. 3 Princeton 4
1 - Gustav Detter (T) d. Yasser El Halaby 7-9, 7-9, 10-8, 9-2, 9-2
2 - Mauricio Sanchez (P) d. Shaun Johnstone 9-4, 4-9, 4-9, 9-2. 9-2
3 - Kimlee Wong (P) d. Jacques Swanepoel 9-7, 9-5, 9-2
4 - Sahil Vora (T) Hesham El Halaby 9-2, 9-0, 9-4
5 - Yvain Badan (T) d. Vincent Yu 9-3, 9-6, 10-8
6 - Eduardo Pereira (T) d. Nate Beck 9-0, 9-1, 9-0
7 - Manek Manthur (T) d. Michael Gilman 10-8, 9-4, 9-5
8 - Dent Wilkens (P) d. Neil Robertson 9-7, 9-0, 9-0
9 - Tom McKay (P) d. Coly Smith 10-8, 9-7, 3-9, 9-0