Pictured: Franklin Cohen and the Crimson will look to regroup at No. 1 Trinity Jan. 30. 
Photo courtesy: Gil Talbot Photography

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. --The fifth-ranked Harvard men's squash team dropped its first match of the season, falling to No. 3 Rochester at the Barnaby Courts Saturday afternoon.  With the loss, Harvard moves to 4-1 on the season.

With the teams using a five-court system, the Crimson grabbed several early leads in the matches.  J. Reed Endresen won the first two games of his match against William Newnham at the No. 4 spot, while Jason Michas was up 2-0 at th3 No. 6 position against Matt Domenick.  The Yellowjackets managed a win at the No. 2 slot, as Benjamin Fischer defeated Richard Hill, 3-0 (11-4, 11-9, 11-6), and Joe Chapman topped Harvard's William Ahmed at the No. 8 position, 3-0 (16-14, 11-3, 11-5), as Rochester went up, 2-0.

As the second round of matches began, Alexander Ma quickly defeated Yohay Wakabayashi, 3-0 (11-4, 11-9, 11-9), at the No. 9 slot, making it a 2-1 team score.  Endresen and Michas each dropped their final three games in close fashion, as Rochester jumped ahead, 4-1. 

At the No. 1 slot, Colin West handed Jim Bristow a 3-0 defeat at the No. 1 slot (11-9, 11-4, 11-4), cutting Harvard's deficit to 4-2.  At the No. 3, Zeke Scherl fell to Hameed Ahmed, 3-0 (11-5, 11-2, 11-3), clinching the win for Rochester.  In the final matches, Franklin Cohen claimed the first game against Juan Pablo Gaviria at the No. 7, 11-9, but Gaviria took the final three games, 11-9, 11-7, 11-9, to seal the win.  At the No. 5 position, Eliot Buchanan lost to Andres Duany, 3-0 (11-7, 11-5, 11-4).

Harvard will visit No. 1 Trinity in its final non-conference match of the season Jan. 30, before returning to the Ivy League portion of its schedule.

Complete Results
No. 3 Rochester 7, No. 5 Harvard 2
No. 1 Colin West (H) def. Jim Bristow (R) 3-0: 11-9, 11-4, 11-4
No. 2 Benjamin Fischer (R) def. Richard Hill (H) 3-0: 11-4, 11-9, 11-6
No. 3 Hameed Ahmed (R) def. Zeke Scherl (H) 3-0: 11-5, 11-2, 11-3
No. 4 William Newnham (R) def. J. Reed Endresen (H) 3-2: 5-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-5
No. 5 Andres Duany (R) def. Eliot Buchanan (H) 3-0: 11-7, 11-5, 11-4
No. 6 Matt Domenick (R) def. Jason Michas (H) 3-2: 5-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-5
No. 7 Juan Pablo Gaviria (R) def. Franklin Cohen (H) 3-1: 9-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-9
No. 8 Joe Chapman (R) def. William Ahmed (H) 3-0: 16-14, 11-3, 11-5
No. 9 Alexander Ma (H) def. Yohay Wakabayashi (R) 3-0: 11-4, 11-9, 11-9
No. 10 Alex Lavoie (H) def. Edwin Goncharuk (R) 3-0: 11-3, 11-8, 11-1