Photo Courtesy of UR Athletics
This past weekend, the UR Men’s Squash team traveled to Trinity College to compete against the top eight teams in the nation for the coveted College Squash Association (CSA) Potter Cup, the National Championship of college squash.
To begin the tournament, the ‘Jackets were seeded sixth and matched up against the number three seed Harvard. The match played out exactly as any squash fan hopes: intense matches that were all heavily contested, with neither team giving in. The lead went back and forth between the two highly-ranked teams, and the win came down to the final match.
After eight matches, the score was tied 4-4. In the last game of the final match, the score was tied 9-9 until Harvard’s number 7 player, Tyler Olson, rallied to win the game 12-10 against Rochester’s Aria Fazelimanesh and secure a spot in the semifinals, forcing Rochester into the consolation bracket to compete for fifth place.
After suffering a heartbreaking loss in the first round of the tournament, the team responded excellently, overcoming Franklin and Marshall relatively easily. Rochester had lost to Franklin and Marshall earlier in the season but was able to avenge their loss with a 6-3 win.
With early wins at the number three and number six spots, the ‘Jackets jumped to an early lead and never looked back. After six individual matches, the team had secured an overall win by having a 5-1 lead. This secured the team a spot against Yale to compete for fifth place.
Rochester was able to conquer Yale, a team Rochester had lost to earlier in the season without much trouble. The team began the match 3-0 after quick wins from the three, six and nine positions. The team went on to win 6-3 to achieve the same 5th place finish as previous year.
Looking back on the season, the ‘Jackets have definitely established themselves as a team to watch in the upcoming years. The team has gained great experience against some of the best competition in the nation and showed that, in fact, they can compete with anyone, as demonstrated by a regular season win against Trinity College, this year’s CSA Potter Cup champion and perennial college squash powerhouse.
With the entirety of the ‘Jackets’ young roster returning next season, the prospects for impressive competition look promising in the future.
Kuhrt ia a member of the class of 2017.
