HARTFORD, Conn. – The third-ranked Harvard men's squash team captured the first five matches to upset second-ranked Columbia, 6-3, and return to the Collegiate Squash Association's Potter Cup final. For the second straight year, the Crimson (13-2) earned the right to play for a national championship by defeating the Lions (15-2) in the national semifinal.

The top four slots remained unchanged from the regular-season meeting between the Ivy League's top programs. The results remained unaltered as well. The Crimson won at No. 3 and No. 4, while falling at No. 1 and No. 2 in tightly contested matchups. However, the adjustments made to the lower part of the lineup proved the difference this time around.

Junior Alexi Gosset cracked the lineup at No. 9 and secured the first point of the day for Harvard, while his brother Julien also found success with an adjusted spot of No. 8. Freshman Samuel Scherl was bumped up to the No. 5 and senior captain Madhav Dhingra moved to No. 6. Dhingra won his bout against the Lions again, while Scherl ultimately delivered the match-clinching point.

The Crimson swept all three matches of the opening wave. The elder Gosset won a two-point first game against Mac Awalt at No. 9, before rolling to wins in games two and three. Dhingra cruised past Adham Madi in straight games at No. 6 to put the Crimson up, 2-0. Sophomore Sean Hughes claimed an extra-point win in the second game and went on to preserve a sweep over Seif Attia at No. 3.

Harvard clinched the match in the second wave. After dropping the opening game at No. 8, freshman Julien Gosset fought back to take an 11-9 win in the second, shut out Krish Kapur, 11-0, in the third, and sealed the Crimson's fourth point, 11-5, in the fourth. Freshman Samuel Scherl then advanced Harvard to the title match with a sweep of Arhum Saleem at No. 5 (Watch: Scherl's match-clincing point).

Senior David Ryan added the final point for Harvard, improving to 14-0 on the year with a three-game victory over Carter Robitaille at No. 4.

The Crimson will play No. 1 Trinity for the 2018 Potter Cup. Harvard fell to the Bantams, 4-5, at the Murr Center in the 2017 national championship. The match will be streamed live on CSASquash.com.

Results
No. 1 – Osama Khalifa def. Saadeldin Abouaish (H), 13-15, 10-12, 11-3, 11-1
No. 2 – Velavan Senthilkumar def. Timothy Brownell (H), 11-9, 11-7, 7-11, 11-9
No. 3 – Sean Hughes (H) def. Seif Attia, 11-7, 12-10, 11-4
No. 4 – David Ryan (H) def. Carter Robitaille, 11-4, 11-5, 11-3
No. 5 – Samuel Scherl (H) def. Arhum Saleem, 11-4, 11-6, 11-6
No. 6 – Madhav Dhingra (H) def. Adham Madi, 11-5, 11-7, 11-3
No. 7 – Robin Singh Mann def. Adam Corcoran (H), 5-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-4
No. 8 – Julien Gosset (H) def. Krish Kapur, 4-11, 11-9, 11-0, 11-5
No. 9 – Alexi Gosset (H) def. Mac Awalt, 11-9, 11-4, 11-6

Order of Finish: 9, 3, 6, 8, 5*, 2, 7, 4, 1