(updated 31-jan-10 11:17 )  

Second Ranked Bulldogs beat defending #2 Princeton in New Jersey Showdown  

The No. 2 Yale Bulldogs beat the No. 4 Princeton Tigers 5-4 Saturday afternoon at the Jadwin Squash Courts in Princeton, N.J, as they duplicated their win over Princeton at these same courts in 2006. For Yale, it was the middle and end of the lineup that provided their wins. Yale prevailed in three close five game matches, at numbers 3, 5, and 8, including a 16-14 in the fifth, win at number eight by Yale's Robbie Berner.

Coach Dave Talbott had told me at the beginning of the season that, "We will surprise some people this year, we are much stronger." but characteristically, coach Talbott had kept silent on the matter all season, letting his players do the talking on court. Talk they did, going into Princeton's home arena and taking home a tense and hard fought 5-4 win.

The Bulldogs (10-1, 4-0 Ivy) remained undefeated in conference play following their tightest match of the 2009-10 season.  Princeton (6-2, 3-1 Ivy) dropped its first Ivy League match and suffered only its second overall (Princeton earlier had lost to U Rochester).

Yale picked up wins in four games from freshman Hywel Robinson (No. 4) and sophomore Ryan Dowd (No. 9).  The Bulldogs collected hard-fought five-game wins from senior Aaron Fuchs (No. 3), sophomore John Roberts (No. 5) and sophomore Robert Berner (No. 8).  All three players trailed in their respective matches before winning their decisive fifth games.

Robinson's victory over David Canner at the No. 4 position sealed the match for Yale, who led 4-3 through seven completed matches.  After splitting the first two games, Robinson won the next two, both by scores of 11-7. 

The victory is significant for the Bulldogs, who are one step closer to capturing the Ivy League title.  The Bulldogs will travel to Providence, R.I., to face No. 13 Brown on Feb. 6 before closing out the regular season at home with a pair of matches against No. 34 Columbia (Feb. 10) and No. 5 Harvard (Feb. 13).  In all likelihood, Yale will enter the Harvard match in a position to clinch the Ivy League championship with a victory.  Following today's Princeton loss, Harvard now stands opposite Yale as the only other undefeated Ivy squad.

COLLEGE SQUASH RESULT: PRINCETON NJ, JAN 31, 2010

Yale 5 - Princeton 4:

1. d Todd Harrity (P) d Ken Chan (Y) 11-6 11-8 6-11 10-12 11-2
2. David Letourneau (P) d Todd Ruth (Y) 12-10 11-8 11-8
3. Aaron Fuchs (Y) d Chris Callis (P) 9-11 10-12 11-4 11-8 11-9
4. Hywel Robinson (Y) d David Canner (P) 11-7 7-11 11-7 11-7
5. John roberts (Y) d Kelly Shannon (P) 12-10 16-18 4-11 11-8 11-9
6. Santiago Imberton (P) d Richard Dodd (Y) 13-11 11-6 11-6
7. Peter Sopher (P) d Naishadh Lalwani (Y) 11-6 11-4 11-8
8. Robbie Berner (Y) d Jesus Pena (P) 9-11 11-6 11-5 7-11 16-14
9. Ryan Dowd (Y) d Clay Blackiston (P) 7-11 11-9 11-7 11-7
10. Chris Plimpton (Y) d Nikhil Seth (P) 11-6 11-6 11-6