HARTFORD, CT – No. 1 Harvard Men's Squash dominated in their first-round matchup in the CSA Team Championships against No. 8 Cornell, winning 8-1.
 
In the first three matches played the Crimson quickly brought the score to 3-0 as David Costales, Ido Burstein, and Ayush Menon all swept their opponents. 
 
Shortly after, Denis Gilevskiy and Neel Joshi both grabbed wins to clinch the victory over Cornell with four matches outstanding. 
 
The Big Red got themselves on the scoreboard by winning at the No. 1 position but in the final three matches it was all Harvard.  Playing best of three, Liam Rotzoll and George Crowne downed their opponents 2-0 to add two more wins to the Crimson score.  To officially close out the day, Tate Harms defeated Spencer Yager (Cornell), 2-1, to bring Harvard to eight wins on the day.
 
With the win the Crimson advance to the semifinals of the Potter Cup, where they will face either No. 4 Yale or No. 5 Virginia.  The match will take place tomorrow, February 25, at 11:00 a.m.

Harvard Highlights

• The Crimson clinched the win over Cornell through the first five matches played.  In each of the first five wins, no Harvard player dropped a game. 
• David Costales improved to 12-2 overall with his win today while also dropping the least number of points by any Crimson player.  Through three games Costales only gave up seven points.
• Fellow first-year Denis Gilevskiy also had a successful day holding his opponent to single digit points through their three games.  Gilevskiy outscored his opponent 11-2, 11-2, 11-5.
• Senior co-captain, George Crowne, continues to lead the team in wins this year, sitting with an overall record of 14-1.
• With the win the Crimson increase their lead in the all-time series with Cornell, going up 53-2.  Harvard has now won the last 14 matchups between the two squads. 

Results

1. Veer Chotrani (Cornell) def. Marwan Tarek, 3-1 (8-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-7)
2. George Crowne def. Aaron Liang (Cornell), 2-0 (11-7, 11-3)
3. Ido Burstein def. Arnaav Sareen (Cornell), 3-0 (11-5, 11-3, 11-2)
4. Tate Harms def. Spencer Yager (Cornell), 2-1 (8-11, 11-7, 11-2)
5. Denis Gilevskiy def. Humza Khan (Cornell), 3-0 (11-2, 11-2, 11-5)
6. David Costales def. Rohan Iyer (Cornell), 3-0 (11-2, 11-2, 11-3)
7. Neel Joshi def. Tanay Punjabi (Cornell), 3-0 (11-9. 11-4, 11-4)
8. Liam Rotzoll def. Morgan Huberman (Cornell), 2-0 (11-8, 11-6)
9. Ayush Menon def. Nicholas Goth Errington (Cornell), 3-0 (11-6, 11-7, 14-12)

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

Next Up

The Crimson will return to action tomorrow, February 25, at 11:00 a.m. as they compete in the semifinals of the Potter Cup at the CSA Team Championships.  Harvard will face the winner of the Yale and Virginia match. 

Scouting the Competition

• No. 4 Yale is 9-3 so far this season.  The Bulldogs closed out their regular season with three wins in a row defeating Trinity, Western, and Rochester. 
• Harvard and Yale have met once so far this season when the Crimson upended the Bulldogs, 7-2. 
• Harvard holds a significant advantage in the all-time series as it stands at 82-22 with the Crimson having won the last seven matchups.
• No. 5 Virginia is an impressive 13-4 this season.  The Cavaliers closed out their regular season going 1-2, defeating Cornell but dropping matches to both Princeton and Penn. 
• Harvard and Virginia met in Cambridge back in December where the Crimson won 8-1. 
• The two squads have only met four times before, with the Crimson having won all contests.