Middlebury Edges Williams in 5-4 Battle

MIDDLEBURY, VT - The Men's Squash Team set out for away matches against Middlebury and Dartmouth. At the Middlebury Bostwick Squash Center, the Ephs and Panthers added to the rivalry with an epic thriller. With the first match of the year, the Ephs opened strong at 2-1 in the opening round with a contentious five game win from Anand Butler '19 (#9) and a convincing three game victory from Carl William Shuck '20 (#3). David Pincus '20 (#6) was unable to break the momentum of his skilled opponent, falling in a close three games. 

The Ephs seemed to be breaking away as A.J. Solecki '21 (#8) quickly worked his way to a three game victory adding another tally to the score line at 3-1. The Panthers quickly struck back after William Means '20 (#5) was defeated in four games and Wyatt Khosrowshahi '21 (#2) narrowly lost in five games after a 7-7 standstill in the fifth game. Entering the final round of matches, the Ephs and Panthers were tied at 3-3.

Last up was Krish Bhavnani '22 (#7), Jacob Bassil '22 (#4), and Co-Captain John Fitzgerald '19 (#1). Bhavnani was outmatched by a skilled opponent, although had a chance to break the rhythm of the match in a second game tie brake, which he lost 12-10. Bassil controlled his opponent from the onset, clinching a comfortable three game win. Fitzgerald's match was in progress with the matches at 4-4. Trading point for point, Fitzgerald fell 11-9 in the first game and 11-8 in the second after an 8-3 lead in the second. Unluckily, Fitzgerald had a couple of unfortunate breaks in the last game, a tiebreak, ending the match at 5-4 Middlebury.

Coach Zafi Levy offered a post-game commentary: "The boys played very hard today. We knew this would be a tough match, but the season has just begun and we are most focussed on improving from now until NESCACs."

The Ephs will play Dartmouth tomorrow at the Berry Squash Center at 2:00pm.