HARTFORD, CT – No. 1 Harvard Men's Squash advanced to the finals of the Potter Cup at the CSA Team Championships after defeating No. 4 Yale, 6-3, in the semifinals. 
 
Harvard pulled out to a 2-1 lead after the first wave of players following wins from Marwan Tarek and Denis Gilevskiy.
 
The Bulldogs began to show their fight in the next three matches as each took over 70 minutes to complete.  George Crowne traded games back and forth with his opponent but the senior co-captain was ultimately able to slide past Maxwell Orr (Yale) in the final of five games to put the Crimson up 3-1.  A few moments after, Tate Harms held off a comeback from his opponent to win 3-1 and put Harvard a win away from clinching.

Harvard solidified their spot in the finals as Ayush Menon came back from 2-1 down to defeat Brian Leonard (Yale) in another five-game match. 

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A win from Ayush Menon in his five game match solidified our spot in the 2023 Potter Cup final??#GoCrimson | #OneCrimson pic.twitter.com/l3A6nKeLmk

— Harvard Squash (@harvardsquash) February 25, 2023

Ido Burstein swept his opponent at the No. 3 position to increase the Crimson win total to six to end the day. 

Harvard Highlights

• After dropping his first match of the season yesterday, Tarek bounced back in a strong way by downing his opponent 3-0 to give the Crimson their first win of the day. 
• Tarek dropped the least number of points by any Crimson player, only giving up 16 points throughout three games played.
• Burstein joined Tarek as the only two Crimson players to sweep their opponents.  The No. 3 player for the Crimson outscored his opponent 11-6, 11-8, 11-4. 
• Menon was in a battle at the No. 8 position as four out of five games were decided by three points or less.  Menon's clinching win was a come from behind victory as he was down 2-1 and trailing 6-8 in the fourth game. 
• The Crimson went undefeated in the top five spots on the ladder today.
• With the win, the Crimson increase their lead in the all-time series against Yale to 83-22.  Harvard has now won the last eight matchups between the two squads. 

The Crimson are Worldwide

For the third time this season, the Crimson lineup consisted of players from nine different countries across five different continents.  The nine Crimson players on the ladder today hail from Egypt (Tarek), Canada (Crowne), Israel (Burstein), Switzerland (Harms), Ireland (Gilevskiy), Ecuador (David Costales), India (Neel Joshi), USA (Menon), and Malaysia (Ishant Shah). 

Results

Harvard – 6, Yale – 3

1. Marwan Tarek def. Siow Yee Xian (Yale), 3-0 (11-7, 11-5, 11-4)
2. George Crowne def. Maxwell Orr (Yale), 3-2 (11-6, 8-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9)
3. Ido Burstein def. Max Forster (Yale), 3-0 (11-6, 11-8, 11-4)
4. Tate Harms def. Tad Carney (Yale), 3-1 (11-9, 11-9, 10-12, 14-12)
5. Denis Gilevskiy def. Jed Burde (Yale), 3-1 (9-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-5)
6. Arav Bhagwati (Yale) def. David Costales, 3-0 (11-6, 14-12, 11-8)
7. Nikhil Ismail (Yale) def. Neel Joshi, 3-2 (11-9, 10-12, 11-7, 8-11, 11-9)
8. Ayush Menon def. Biran Leonard (Yale), 3-2 (11-8, 11-13, 6-11, 11-8, 11-9)
9. Eric Kim (Yale) def. Ishant Shah, 3-0 (11-7, 11-4, 11-0)

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

Next Up

The Crimson will return to action tomorrow to compete for the 2023 National Championship.  Looking to stand atop college squash for the fourth straight yet, Harvard will face off against the winner of the No. 2 Penn versus No. 6 Trinity match at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow, February 26. 

Scouting the Competition

• No. 2 Penn is 16-1 this season with their only loss coming from Harvard earlier this year.  Following their loss in Cambridge, the Quakers closed out their regular season with four victories of 7-2 or better against top-six ranked opponents. 
• In the Potter Cup, the Quakers defeated No. 7 Drexel, 7-2, in the opening round and faces off against No. 6 Trinity in hopes of advancing to the finals. 
• The last time Harvard and Penn faced off, the Crimson rallied from behind to win 5-4 to remain atop the college squash rankings and the Ivy League standings. 
• The Crimson have been dominant in their all-time series against Penn as they hold a 79-4 lead.  Harvard has won the last two matchups between the two squads.
• No. 6 Trinity is 16-4 this season.  In their last weekend of play of the regular season, the Bantams won three matches in 9-0 fashion. 
• In the Potter Cup, the Bantams upset No. 3 Princeton, 5-3, in the first round to advance and face No. 2 Penn in the semifinals. 
• When Harvard and Trinity faced off earlier this year, the Crimson won 6-3. 
• Harvard holds a narrow lead in the all-time series against Trinity, as the record stands at 34-30.  The Crimson have won the last five matchups between the two schools.