Princeton University
Cornell
Players Mentioned
Men's Squash Fights Off Cornell Charge To Open Ivy Season With Win
November 22, 2009 | Men's Squash
Over the last two years, Princeton lost a total of two individual matches in Ivy League competition. On Sunday, without the "Amigos" or a pair of injured All-America sophomores in the lineup, the Tigers lost three. Gutsy wins by Peter Sopher and David Pena made sure that Princeton wouldn't see its 2009-10 Ivy season get off on the wrong foot Sunday at Cornell.
With both Chris Callis and Kelly Shannon both too injured to compete in the season-opening weekend in Ithaca, Princeton used its strength at the top and overall depth to finish a sweep weekend. One day after claiming a 9-0 victory over Western Ontario, the Tigers extended their Ivy League win streak to 21 matches with a hard-fought win over the Big Red; Cornell ended last season as the No. 4 team in the rankings and looks like it will be a strong force again this year.
But Princeton had too much for the host school. No. 1 freshman Todd Harrity won 3-0, and junior All-America David Letourneau picked up a 3-1 win at No. 2. Senior David Canner fell to the talented Christopher Sachvie in four games, and the Big Red also picked up wins at No. 8 and No. 9.
That left the middle of the lineup as the decisive part of the match. Princeton's Clay Blackiston cruised to a 3-0 win at No. 7, but all three middle matches went the distance. Senior Santiago Imberton rallied from a 2-1 deficit to win at No. 4, but both Pena and Sopher had much tougher fifth games. Pena, who trailed 1-0 and 2-1, held off Arjun Gupta for an 11-8 victory in the fifth game, while Sopher went beyond the 11-point mark to finally earn a 16-14 win in the fifth game.
PRINCETON 6, CORNELL 3
1 - Todd Harrity (P) d. Alex Domenick 6, 2, 5
2 - David Letourneau (P) d. Thomas Spettigue (8), 7, 7, 5
3 - Christopher Sachvie (C) d. David Canner 7, (13), 8, 12
4 - Santiago Imberton (P) d. William Hartigan (9), 2, (8), 8, 2
5 - David Pena (P) d. Arjun Gupta (4), 2, (9), 2, 8
6 - Peter Sopher (P) d. Rishi Jalan 8, (4), (6), 1, 14
7 - Clay Blackiston (P) d. Amar Gupta 5, 8, 4
8 - W. McKay Claghorn (C) d. Stephen Harrington (5), 3, 5, 8
9 - Owen Butler (C) d. Nikhil Seth 6, 10, 8