PRINCETON, N.J. – After suffering its first loss of the 2021-22 season a day ago, No. 2 Harvard (6-1, 3-1 Ivy) bounced back in a big way, edging No. 3 Princeton (4-1, 1-1 Ivy) on Sunday, 5-4, at the Jadwin Gymnasium. 
 
It was a back-and-forth battle for most of the day in a match that lasted nearly two and a half hours. Harvard senior Samuel Scherl put the first point on the board with a decisive 3-0 win at third singles, before Princeton's Ahmed Wael, playing in the number eight position, evened the score with a 3-0 victory of his own. 
 
Sophomore Ido Burstein again gave the visitors the advantage as he completed a 3-0 sweep at five singles, but the Tigers' leveled things once more with a narrow 3-2 triumph at number one singles by Youssef Ibrahim. 
 
The home team got its first lead of the day when nine singles swung in the Tigers favor, but Harvard's Liam Rotzoll and Adam Corcoran were each able to grind out wins to put the Crimson ahead, 4-3. 
 
The two remaining matches out on court ended nearly simultaneously. Princeton's Max Khatri momentarily brought the score to 4-4, but the Crimson's Marwan Tarek put the finishing touches on a 3-0 win at two singles to secure the win for his team. 
 
Harvard Highlights / Match Notes 

• Captain Samuel Scherl moves to a team-best 6-0 on the year individually. Scherl dropped just 16 points in his match, the lowest on the team. 
• Harvard is now 2-1 this season in matches against top-10 opponents. 
• The Crimson outscored the Tigers 19-13 in games for the day. 
• It was the 10th straight victory for Harvard against Princeton. The Crimson leads the all-time series 65-26. 

RESULTS
Harvard – 5, Princeton – 4 

1. Youssef Ibrahim (Prin) def. Victor Crouin (Harv) – 3-2 (11-7, 11-7, 7-11, 5-11, 11-7)
2. Marwan Tarek (Harv)  def. Karim Elbarbary (Prin) – 3-0 (11-8, 15-13, 11-5) 
3. Samuel Scherl (Harv) def. Daelum Mawji (Prin) – 3-0 (11-8, 11-6, 11-2)
4. Adam Corcoran (Harv) def. Cole Becker (Prin) – 3-1 (4-11, 11-6, 11-8 11-8)
5. Ido Burstein (Harv) def. Thomas Rosini (Prin) – 3-0 (12-10, 11-7, 11-9)
6. Liam Rotzoll (Harv) def. Duncan Joyce (Prin) – 3-0 (11-9, 11-4, 14-12)
7. Maaz Khatri (Prin) def. Tate Harms (Harv) – 3-2 (11-5, 11-3, 7-11, 9-11, 11-6) 
8. Ahmed Wael (Prin) def. Conner Stoltz (Harv) –  3-0 (11-5, 11-4, 11-4,) 
9. Zain Ahmed (Prin) def. Neel Joshi (Harv) – 3-0 (11-5, 11-7, 11-3) 

Exhibition: Gordon Lam (Prin) def. John Finley Ong (Harv) – 3-0 (11-3, 12-10, 11-5

Order of finish: 3, 8, 5, 1, 9, 6, 4, 7, 2
 
Next Up
Harvard heads to Philadelphia for its third match in four days when the Crimson faces No. 9 Drexel on Tuesday (Jan. 18).