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Women's Squash Tops Penn 7-2, Will Take Shot At No. 1 Trinity Saturday
February 24, 2006 | Women's Squash
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The Princeton women's squash team improved on its regular season effort in a 7-2 Howe Cup quarterfinal victory over Penn. The Tigers will need to improve even more to upset No. 1 Trinity Saturday afternoon in one national semifinal, but they will get that opportunity at 11:30 a.m. in Cambridge, Mass.
A few weeks after Princeton left Philadelphia with a 6-3 win over the Quakers, Princeton made its way into the Howe Cup semifinals with a 7-2 win. The Tigers held a 2-1 lead after the first session of matches, as No. 3 Ali Pearson dominated Radhika Ahluwalia and No. 9 Aly Brady looked strong in a 3-0 win of her own.
Princeton took control in the second session, thanks to a pair of clutch 3-0 wins from No. 5 Lena Neufeld and No. 8 Carly Grabowski. Although neither dropped a game, both were extended to a pair of 10-point games in their wins. Both Neufeld and Grabowski, who is undefeated in dual matches this season, won the key late points to win their games and help Princeton to a 4-2 lead with three matches remaining.
The Tigers didn't mess around in their final three matches, winning all three to earn the match. No. 1 Claire Rein-Weston needed to rally in the regular season to defeat Alisha Turner, but she took care of business in all three games Friday, winning 9-7, 9-5, 9-4. At No. 7, Margaret Kent was extended in a tough second game, but she handled Emily Goodwin in a 9-1, 10-8, 9-3 win.
The final match was the only one to go beyond three games. Gen Lessard defeated Tara Chawla 9-4 and 9-3 in the first two games, but the Penn No. 4 battled back for a 9-7 win in the third game. Lessard regained the advantage in the fourth game for a 9-5 win to end the match.
Princeton now looks ahead to a rematch of Sunday's 7-2 loss against Trinity. The Tigers got wins from Grabowski and Christina Fast, who sat out against Penn but is eligible to play No. 9 against Trinity. The Bantams, who defeated Williams 9-0 Friday, won the top seven matches, including each of the first five by 3-0 scores. No. 6 Marilla Hiltz and No. 7 Kent each went four games, and both Pearson and Neufeld showed significant improvement in their final games.
Princeton 7, Penn 2
1 - Claire Rein-Weston (Pr) d. Alisha Turner 9-7 9-5 9-4
2 - Paula Pearson (Pe) d. Casey Riley 9-1 9-7 9-6
3 - Ali Pearson (Pr) d. Radhika Ahluwalia 9-4 9-0 9-2
4 - Gen Lessard (Pr) d. Tara Chawla 9-4 9-3 7-9 9-5
5 - Lena Neufeld (Pr) d. Caitlin Russell 10-8 9-1 10-8
6 - Lauralynn Drury (Pe) d. Marilla Hiltz 9-7 9-1 9-4
7 - Margaret Kent (Pr) d. Emily Goodwin 9-1 10-8 9-3
8 - Carly Grabowski (Pr) d. Maggie Kempner 10-8 9-1 10-8
9 - Aly Brady (Pr) d. Elizabeth Kern 9-6 9-1 9-2
10 - Maggie O'Toole (Pr) d. Chloe Wynne 9-2 9-1 9-2