WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - First-year Leighton Calhoun won the decisive match in dramatic fashion as the #13-ranked Williams College men's squash team took down #12 Massachusetts Institute of Technology by a 6-3 score on Friday night at the Simon Squash Center.
With the win, the Ephs put themselves in contention to leapfrog the Engineers into the top flight of the College Squash Association Team Nationals held next month in Philadelphia.
"So proud of the guys' performances today," said head coach Hesham Aly. "We made a few changes in our training over the last three weeks. We had some work to do after our Amherst/Tufts week, and it all came together today. We knew coming into this match that the stress would be high because of what's at stake, so I'm just so happy to see them playing some of the best squash they've played all season."
Down 5-10 in the fourth game, Calhoun fought off five match points to force a fifth, and then came out on fire in the deciding game to take the match and give the Ephs a 5-2 lead, putting the competition out of reach for the visitors. The game scores were 11-7, 7-11, 11-13, 13-11, 11-4 as the rookie won the biggest collegiate match of his young career.
The Ephs had started the match out on the front foot, with first-year Dylan Scott winning 3-0 in just 34 minutes at #6 (11-8, 11-4, 11-7). While Anden Boulan was not able to find a rhythm at #7, losing 3-0, Asher Leavy was able to give Williams the lead after the first set of matches, winning 3-0 at #2, using the momentum from a gutsy first game to win 16-14, 14-12, 11-6 in 57 minutes.
Will Newton played intelligent squash at #4 to outlast a talented opponent, winning 3-1 (11-3, 11-6, 6-11, 11-8). Down 7-2 in the third game, Newton ran the MIT player around the court and made him work for a game that looked beyond doubt, and he benefitted in the fourth to earn the win. At #2, Alex Akbari lost a lengthy and closely-fought match, falling 3-11, 14-12, 8-11, 10-12 in nearly 90 minutes.
Another epic match was playing out at #8, where co-captain Rafay Syed took the first game 12-10, but dropped the next two, each by 7-11 scores. The fourth game was a back-and-forth affair until late, and the senior prevailed 11-8 before maintaining the advantage in the 5th, winning 11-6 to put the Ephs up 4-2 in the overall score and setting the stage for Calhoun's comeback.
The match then turned to Nick Agger at #1 and Leonard Lee at #9, the last two matches on court. Lee took control in the third game and didn't look back, winning 3-1 (11-4, 8-11, 11-7, 11-2). Agger's match was the final one to finish on the night, and despite the overall result being secured in Williams' favor, neither player gave an inch, as the MIT player prevailed in the fifth game. The match ended at 9:30pm after four hours and 30 minutes of intense squash that was marked by sportsmanlike play on both sides.
The Ephs will be right back in action on Saturday, hosting #24 Bates College at noon, before finishing the busy weekend on Sunday at 11am against Wesleyan University.
