HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College men's squash program got a total team effort during its 8-1 win against Boston College to open up Saturday's matches inside the GIAC Squash Courts. The Fords put themselves in position for the 2-0 day, but were just edged out by a 5-4 score against Bucknell to close the action.
The Fords had four individuals in the top nine who won both of their matches on Saturday in Nathan Vestrich-Shade (No. 1), Laurenson Ward (No. 4), Yash Singh(No. 5), and Zach Cole (No. 6). Vestrich-Shade, Ward and Singh did not drop a game during the entire day, while Cole dropped just one game in his match against Boston College before winning in four.
Holding down the top ladder position, Vestrich-Shade allowed just nine points in total during his quick victory against Boston College. Although not quite as dominant in his second match of the day, the Fords' top player controlled his match against Bucknell on his way to an 11-5, 11-7, 11-7 victory.
Haverford dominated the middle third of the ladder in both of its matches. At No. 4, Ward also allowed just nine points against Boston College to start the day and came back with another resounding win against Bucknell. He opened and closed that second victory with 11-2 wins in the first and third games, while coming out on top in an 11-6 middle game which proved to be his closest of the entire afternoon. Singh's toughest game of the Boston College match was his opener when he took that game by an 11-7 advantage before allowing just five and three points, respectively, in the closing games. He cemented his perfect day by allowing just nine points in his match against Bucknell.
Cole's lone blemish in terms of games came in his opener against Boston College. After dropping a hard-fought 15-13 extra point game, Cole left little doubt after that as he allowed just seven points the rest of the way to storm back from being a game down. His momentum carried right into the second match as he allowed just nine points during his first sweep of the afternoon. Cole's win was one of two four-game victories for the Fords against Bucknell as Alex Liu also responded well to an opening game setback at the No. 8 position.
Aaron Horwitz, Jonathan Nguyen, and Ryan Dukarm all came away with three-game victories during the team's 8-1 triumph against Boston College. The Eagles' lone point of the match came at No. 2 despite the outstanding efforts of Peter Dudley. Dudley opened with an 11-9 win, but came up just short in extra points during the second and third games.
A thrilling match against Bucknell closed the day for the host Fords. In a contest tied at three-all heading into the final set of matches, the Fords got the jump with wins from Cole, Singh, and Ward. In total, Haverford took four of the six matches that were decided in three games but came up empty on matches that extended to fourth and fifth games.
Dudley looked to be giving the Fords a huge advantage early when he went up 2-0 following 11-5 and 11-6 victories. However, his opponent rallied back to take the final three games. At No. 8, Nguyen came back from a 2-0 hole with an 11-7 victory in the third game to keep his match alive before falling in extra points during his fourth game that featured a back-and-forth battle throughout. Horwitz split his first two games at No. 3 before 11-9 and 12-10 games went the way up his opponent.
Men's squash will next travel to Dickinson for round robin competition. The Fords will take on Johns Hopkins and host Dickinson during the upcoming weekend of competition that is set for Saturday, February 6.