ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Haverford College Men's Squash team posted a pair of victories, taking down University of Washington, 6-3 and Richmond, 8-1 at the Navy Round Robin on the campus of the United States Naval Academy. The Fords sit at 2-0 to begin the season.
Haverford 6, University of Washington 3
In the Washington match, Ryan Dukarm was a standout in the first threesome of matches after Haverford dropped a pair, pulling the Fords to a 2-1 defecit with a victory. Ben Soloway dropped a thrilling five-game match that required extra points in the fifth game to decide a winner while Aaron Horwitz was downed with a strong performance from Clarence Ong of the Huskies.
Haverford went 3-0 in the subsequent set of matches, prevailing at the second, fifth and eighth slots on the ladder as Peter Dudley, Alex Liu and Shilin Jog gave Haverford the 4-2 lead.
Freshman Cyrus Bahadori made his collegiate debut at the seventh spot on the ladder and delivered the match clincher for the Fords with a sweep over Claire Overby in a three-game sweep.
Yash Singh brought the Fords to 6-2 with a 3-1 victory Claudia Regio while freshman Tate Miller, making his debut at the top of the ladder, was felled by a strong opponent in Raghuvir Reddy.
Haverford improves to 6-0 all-time over Washington. It was the first meeting between the two squads since the 2011 CSA Championships.
Haverford 8, Richmond 1
In the second match of the day against the Richmond Spiders, the Fords played a cleaner, more-focused contest after getting some of the season-opening jitters out of the way against the Huskies. The Fords played determined and relaxed, cruising to a win over Richmond.
Horwitz (11-3, 11-6, 11-8) and Dukarm (11-5, 11-9, 6-11, 11-2) each clinched early wins while Soloway was downed by Miller Joyce in straight games. Liu and Dudley each were able to play much more consistent matches than against Washington, sending their opponents into the back corners and creating effective length, opening up offensive opportunities that allowed the pair to move the ball around against their respective challengers.
Jog played a five-gamer against Arturo Ayala, prevailing 4-11, 11-6, 4-11, 11-9, 11-7 to give Haverford the vital win for the clincher. Haverford added wins from Singh and Miller before Bahadori played a classic against Declan Harrison (7-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-9, 11-7), prevailing narrowly after using a strategy of continuously sending the ball deep, wearing on Harrison and taking the match in five games for an 8-1 win.
Haverford improves to 2-0 against the Spiders after meeting last season for the first time.
The Fords will return to action on November 19 at the Vassar Invitational. The Fords are slated to taken on Connecticut College (1:00 p.m.) and Vassar (3:00 p.m.).