Times seem to be changing as #28 Cal Berkeley squash team reasserted itself as the top team on the west coast with a dramatic win over #20 Stanford. Fifteen members left Berkeley at 10:30 and made their way down the peninsula to kick off the 2003-2004 intercollegiate squash season with a match against cross-town rivals Stanford.

The match started slowly for Berkeley, with 3-0 losses at the numbers three, five, seven, and nine positions. However, Chinghway Lim got Berkeley back on track with a 3-2 come-from behind win at the number eight spot. Down 0-2, and 3-7 in the third, Lim finally woke up, coming back to win that game, and the next two in commanding fashion. The score was now 4-1 to Stanford, with Cal’s number two, Jehan Engineer warming up on the next court.

Engineer cruised to an easy first game win, mixing in tight forehand drops with disguised boasts. The second was a different story, as Stanford number two, Paul Valient stormed back to level at 1-1. At this point, Engineer came back strongly to win a tight third game 9-5, stepping up and volleying to keep his opponent pinned in the back. Cal stormed through the fourth game, quickly wrapping it up with a score of 9-1, keeping Stanford on the run. Match score: 4-2 to Stanford.

On court number two, one of the hero’s for Berkeley, Adam Angsten came back from 0-2 down against his Stanford counterpart, leveled at 2-2 and won in dramatic fashion, 9-7 in the fifth. Every point was followed by cheers from the Cal side, unnerving the Stanford player, as the momentum swung Berkeley’s way. An exhausted Angsten exited the court as his teammates and coaches welcomed him with open arms. With the number ones about to go on, the match score had been brought back to 4-3 in favor of Stanford.

Next, Håkan Borgström made his much anticipated debut at number one for the Golden Bears. Mixing cleverly disguised cross-courts with tight drops and wall-clinging lengths, Borgström won the first 9-4 over Stanford’s number one Rich Sherwood, nationally ranked #51. In the second, Borgström stormed ahead to a quick 7-3 lead, however, a series of tins saw Sherwood level to 7-7 before Borgström finally took the game 9-7. In the third, the Cal’s prized addition was just too strong for Sherwood, blitzing ahead to take the game 9-1, and the match 3-0 in roughly thirty minutes. Match score: 4-4.

What better way for the match to finish than with Cal’s senior captain, Harlan Yu on the next court battling it out. Yu lost the first quickly, but rebounded to win the second and even the match at one game apiece. In the third, Yu was just too strong for his Stanford counterpart, coasting to a 9-1 win. Yu smelled blood and understood that he just had to keep his poise and use the momentum gained from the previous game. With a packed gallery watching over the final match, the DeGuerre courts in Palo Alto reverberated with the sounds of applause and encouragement.

The fourth game started off slowly, neither player passing the score of 1-1 for the first five minutes. Tight, deep, high-percentage squash was played, neither opponent willing to give anything away. Yu finally pushed ahead, taking the lead to 7-3. Deafening applause from the Cal team was quickly silenced as Stanford came back with a little run to push the score to 7-5 in Cal’s favor. Yu received a hand out on an error from Stanford and took advantage pushing the score to 8-5, giving him a match ball for not only himself, but for his team.

Stanford wasn’t done yet, making Cal pay for a forehand kill that crashed into the tin and regained service. A low hard cross court that died in the back recovered serve for Yu. Match ball Cal. Yu played another tight cross court, and when his opponents boast clipped the top off the tin, the place exploded. Yu with his hands in the air, walked off court and into the embrace of his teammates. 5-4, match to Cal!