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Men's Squash Tops Harvard 7-2 To Remain In Ivy Race
February 08, 2010 | Men's Squash
By sweeping the first shift of matches and controlling the bottom of the lineup, the fourth-ranked Princeton men's squash team defeated Harvard 7-2 and stayed alive in the Ivy League championship race.
Princeton is now 9-2 overall, 5-1 in the Ivy League, and is finished with league matches. The Tigers need Harvard to now defeat Yale next weekend to clinch a share of the league crown, which would be Princeton's fifth in a row.
Playing a three-shift format, Princeton opened the match with a 3-0 lead. Senior tri-captain David Canner was impressive in an 11-8, 11-6, 11-3 win over Zeke Scherl. Sophomore David Pena followed with a 3-1 win at No. 6, and the match of the day belonged to Nikhil Seth at No. 9. The Princeton junior played five games, and each was decided by either two or three points. Seth led 2-0 before dropping 11-8 and 11-9 games, but he bounced back for an 11-9 win in the fifth that assured Princeton control heading into the second shift.
Harvard got a win when Richard Hill won in four games at No. 2, but Princeton was still able to put the match away before the third shift. Senior tri-captain Santiago Imberton, in the midst of the best season of his career, topped Jason Michas in four games, and Clay Blackiston won 3-0 at No. 8 to secure the match.
Princeton freshman Todd Harrity dropped the first match of his collegiate career at the No. 1 position when he fell to Crimson senior and multiple-time All-America Colin West. The Harvard senior likely clinched Ivy League Player of the Year honors with an 11-7, 12-10, 5-11, 11-9 victory over Harrity, the likely Ivy League Rookie of the Year. Princeton did add a 3-1 win at No. 4 by Kelly Shannon and a 3-0 at No. 7 by Peter Sopher.
While Princeton could clinch the Ivy League title next weekend with a Crimson win at Yale, the Tigers will have their full attention on a very well-known rival. Princeton will head to Trinity for a 1 p.m. showdown on Saturday afternoon.