The UR squash team participated in the 2005 Liberty League Men’s Squash Championships on Nov. 19 and 20 in hopes of proving they could mirror last season’s performance with the help of their new head coach.
The team’s first opponent was St. Lawrence University. UR suffered a bitter defeat, being swept. Despite losing at all nine positions, several players were able to put up quite a fight before surrendering to their foe.
At the No. 4 position, freshman Dan Carson put up the greatest fight, winning games two and four by a score of 9-7, 9-6, respectively to force a game five showdown. However, Carson came up short in the fifth game losing 9-5.
Sophomore Pat Harris challenged his opponent at the No. 1 seat in the first two games. However, he came up short in both games losing 10-9, 9-7. In the third game, his opponent put him away with a 9-1 win to take the match.
That same day, the Yellowjackets stacked up against Hobart College, but once again hit the wall hard. UR was defeated at all nine again, but this time, the players put up a greater fight especially at the lower positions.
Senior Steven Gelb defended the No. 8 position against Hobart’s Peter Hansen winning the first game 10-8, but then went on a three game skid, 9-0, 9-2, 9-3, to give up the win.
At the No. 7 seat, senior Drew Aldrich got off to a good start winning the first two games 9-5, 9-7. However, his performance climaxed when he turned over the third game by a narrow margin of 10-8. He was unable to bounce back in the fourth game and eventually dropped the fifth game 9-0, 9-1.
At the No. 5 position, freshman Ori Goldman rebounded after losing games one and two 9-7, 9-7, by dominating his opponent in games three and four, 9-4, 9-3. Goldman’s comeback forced a decisive game five, but he came up on the short end of the 10-8 score.
“They are very good players and are improving,” head coach Martin Heath said. “However, it’s difficult when they are playing three or four spots higher in the team than they should.”
The next day UR faced off against Hamilton College, determined to leave the tournament on a positive note. The top positions performed extremely well. However, the team as whole was unable to win enough matches to emerge from the match with a victory, losing six out of nine matches.
Harris won his match at the no. 1 seat 10-9, 9-2, 9-6. Sophomore Ravi Gupta swept his match at the no. 3 position 9-7, 9-5, 9-3. Goldman also won his match at the no. 5 seat 9-6, 2-9, 9-6, 9-10, 10-8.
The Yellowjackets suffered a similar defeat to Vassar College, winning only three of nine matches.
Harris won the No. 1 seat for his team 9-7, 9-3, 9-4. Carson won the No. 4 position in four games 9-1, 6-9, 9-5, 9-3. Goldman also won his match in three games, 9-1, 9-0, 10-8, to secure a victory at the No. 5 seat.
“There have been great performances from a few different guys, most notably Pat Harris, Ravi Gupta and Ori Goldman, with some solid performances from Dan Carson and Drew Aldrich,” Heath said. “It can only get better.”
Serafini can be reached at jserafini@campustimes.org.
