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Princeton Tops Harvard 5-4


Feb 10, 2002 © 2002 Ron Beck. May not be reproduced online or in print without permission.

PRINCETON UPSETS HARVARD TO CLAIM IVY SQUASH CROWN

Sets up High-Stakes Rematch at NISRA National Team Championships

Will Evans Took Home the Clincher

With it's second razor thin margin in as many weeks, Princeton's Squash Nine took the Ivy crown in a brave performance that silenced the favored Harvard team in front of 500 fans on their home courts in Cambridge Mass. This time it was the end of the lineup that proved the heroes, with Princeton freshmen Rob Siverd (8) and Nate Beck (9) providing two critical points to bring the match to 4-3 in Princeton's favor, before Princeton's Will Evans secured the win with a dominating 3-0 performance over Harvard #1 Dylan Patterson.

Princeton, ranked #4 in the Nation, now has defeated #3 Yale and #2 Harvard in the space of eight days. The win give Princeton a likely #2 in the nation ranking, and the Ivy Crown.

Princeton won its second Ivy League title in the last three years after Harvard had won the previous 10. Princeton and Harvard have now played three straight 5-4 matches to decide the Ivy League crown.

In the introductions, Harvard Coach, Satinder "Baj" Bajwa, exhorted on the home crowd, saying, "Harvard-Princeton always seems to come down to a five-four match and we certainly hope the home court advantage will work in our favor today." Baj knew going into the match that he needed some kind of an advantage, since co-captain and key contributor Peter Karlen was sadly sidelined due to a freak injury to his eye, which most likely is season-ending.

Bullock (background) kept David Yik at bay.

The home court advantage seemed to tip immediately in Harvard's favor, as Princeton Junior and defending intercollegiate champ, David Yik started slowly against Harvard phenom James Bullock. Bullock immediately took the offensive with a hard-hitting approach, and Yik never seemed to gain his equilibrium. In the face of the Jamaican Bullock's assault and constant and loud Harvard cheering, Yik seemed tentative and never was able to get into a successful rhythm. This provided the Princeton nine with an immediate hill to climb, as the Yik matchup had been on paper a secure point in hand.

"It looked like we were going to lose for 95% of the match," said Callahan. "Then we pulled it out in the last 5%."

On the adjoining court, Princeton Senior co-captain Peter Kelly produced a dominating performance over Harvard co-captain David Barry, in which Kelly was able to come up with the big point whenever needed. Kelly played a virtually error-free three games and was off court with a quick 3-0 win, evening the match at 1-1.

Princeton's Dent Wilkins, at six, however was never able to seriously challenge the inspired and much-improved Thomas Storch from Harvard, and when Rob Siverd at eight rode a troublesome barrage of errors into a 2-1 deficit against Harvard senior Tomo Hamakawa, things looked extremely grim for the Tiger courtmen.

Hawakawa (foreground) did most of the running against shotmaker Siverd

Siverd's battle against Hamakawa was a contrast in styles, with the shotmaker Siverd trying to impose his will against the attritional style of Hamakawa. The entire arena's attention focused on this match --- as it was apparent that if Harvard could close out this match, Princeton would be facing an almost impossible deficit. Seemingly oblivious to the absolutely crucial role of this match, Sivert continued with his shotmaking, and several errors too many left him two points from defeat, at 1-2, 5-7. At this point Sivert took his game up another notch, and behind the support of a strong Princeton cheering section, he withstood several exchanges of serve at 5-7, finally evening the game at 7-7. Two devastating volley's to nick saved him the game, which he won 9-7. He was never behind in the fifth game, and gave Princeton the point that tied the match at 2-2.

Princeton's Eric Pearson, hero of last week's Yale match, couldn't find the magic today, though, and quickly fell 3-0 to Michael Blumberg. Harvard's Blumberg did a good job of keeping Pearson in motion so that Pearson was unable to set up for his usually masterful deception and court placement. Equally as quickly, Danny Rutherford outplayed Harvard's #3 Ziggy Whitman to earn a fast 3-0 win and another key point for Princeton.

Three matches were on court and Princeton needed to win two of them. Aaron Zimmerman, at seven, was matched with Harvard's Asher Hochberg. The two had faced each other many times, at verious levels of squash competition, and Zimmerman had rarely emerged the victor, so the Princeton team needed both Nate Beck, at nine, and Will Evans, at one, to win.

Princeton's Nate Beck took control over Ryan Abraham at nine.

Princeton Freshman Beck began fast against Trinidadian Ryan Abraham, staying in control as he won the first game, but the home court edge seemed to come into play at this juncture, with Abraham scoring a full five shots rolling out of the crack in the second game to eventually win game two and even the match. When Abraham took an 8-3 lead in the third game, the entire match was truly in the balance.

In a scene reminiscent of last weekend at Jadwyn (against Yale), Beck became rock-solid at this point and made a difficult comeback to tie the game at 8-8. Abraham called for the two point tiebreaker. At 9-9 Beck regained the serve and overpowered Abraham to take a 2 games to 1 lead that changed the momentum of their match and the entire team match.

The fourth game showed Abraham nearing exhaustion as home-towner Beck still seemed fresh, and he took the key win three games to one. (Princeton later named Beck as the University's athlete of the week)

Now the match stood at 4-3 in Princeton's favor --- and New Zealander Will Evans had already chalked up a 2-0 game lead over Harvard Junior and #1 Dylan Patterson. The third game was routine for Evans, who was playing with complete confidence. Evans was everywhere on court, covering every move tried by Patterson, who had spent the previous summer training in Finland with two top touring pros to up his game. When Evans took the match point and shook Patterson's hand, Princeton had upset Harvard on their home courts.

Prior Harvard All Americans, Peter Briggs, Danny Ezra, and David Fish, all of whose teams had dominated Princeton in years past, were in attendance, and went home disappointed but graceful in defeat. Harvard Coach Bajwa, also graceful in defeat, congratulated Princeton, and invited the Princeton Nine for the rematch, which will take place in two weeks time, at the same venue, Harvard's Barnaby Courts at Murr Center, at the National Collegiate Team Championships.

Captain Peter Kelly said in post match remarks, "This is a day we will all remember --- a great day for our team and Princeton Squash. This was truly a team effort, where everyone contributed, and especially freshmen Siverd and Beck, at eight and nine, stepped up and got the great wins when we needed them."

Coach Bob Callahan said, "Ever since I first played Harvard in 1974 as a Freshman (when Princeton beat Harvard to win their first national championship in 19 years) the Harvard-Princeton match has been special. This one will live as one of the special ones for us."

Princeton's Heroics Silenced the Harvard Crowd of 500 plus.

Results: Princeton vs Harvard, Murr Center, Cambridge MA Feb 10 2002

Princeton 5 Harvard 4
1. Will Evans (P) def Dylan Patterson (H) 9-6, 9-1, 9-2
2. James Bullock (H) def David Yik (P) 9-5, 9-7, 9-6
3. Danny Rutherford (P) def Ziggy Whitman (H) 9-4, 9-1, 9-3
4. Peter Kelly (P) def Dave Barry (H) 10=9, 9-4, 9-1
5. Michael Blumberg (H) def Eric Pearson (P) 9-5, 9-2, 9-6
6. Tom Storch (H) def Dent Wilkins (P) 9-1, 9-2, 9-3
7. Asher Hochberg (H) def Aaron Zimmerman (P) 3-9, 9-0, 9-1, 9-5
8. Rob Siverd (P) def Tomo Hamakawa (H) 9-7, 2-9, 6-9, 9-7, 9-4
9. Nate Beck (P) def Ryan Abraham (H) 10-9, 2-9, 10-9, 9-5

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