NEW YORK, N.Y. – Harvard men's squash got back in the win column this afternoon, winning a thriller over the No. 8 Columbia Lions, 5-4. The Crimson (4-1, 2-0 Ivy) held on to an early lead to earn its first win of the new year over a top-ten opponent.
 

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Crimson made its way to the Upper West Side of Manhattan this afternoon to take on the No. 8 Columbia Lions in the first match of the new year for Harvard men's squash.
 
David Costales and Conner Stoltz got the Crimson off to a great start early, picking up wins at the first and seventh matchups, respectively. Segev Rome battled in his match at the fifth pairing but was unable to pull off a comeback as the Crimson held a 2-1 lead over the Lions after the first wave.
 
Neel Joshi raced to a 3-0 win to kick off the second wave to boost the Crimson lead to 3-1. The Lions clawed their way back, winning the matches at the sixth and eighth matches to level the score at 3-3.
 
In the final wave, Jacob Lin and Marcus Lee took care of business at the four and nine matches, respectively to give the Crimson the victory. Lee clinched the match for Harvard in thrilling fashion, coming back from a 1-2 deficit to win his match 3-2.
 

Results

1 - David Costales def. Arhan Chandra (COL), 3-0 (11-3, 11-8, 11-7)
2 - Shaurya Bawa (COL) def. Denis Gilevskiy, 3-0 (11-9, 11-7, 11-8)
3 - Neel Joshi def. Franklyn Smith (COL), 3-0 (11-6, 11-5, 11-4)
4 – Jacob Lin def. Yusuf Sheikh (COL), 3-1 (11-6, 11-4, 8-11, 11-7)
5 - Zach Nam (COL) def. Segev Rome, 3-1 (11-2, 9-11, 11-5, 11-0)
6 - Imad Athar (COL) def. Tate Harms, 3-0 (11-4, 11-5, 11-9)
7 - Conner Stoltz def. Thomas Soltanian (COL), 3-1 (6-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-2)
8 - Laszlo Godde (COL) def. Louis Murray, 3-2 (11-5, 9-11, 5-11, 11-5, 11-6)
9 - Marcus Lee def. Alex Yuzpe (COL), 3-2 (11-7, 7-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-6)
 

Up Next

Harvard will be back in action tomorrow afternoon against the Cornell Big Red. Match time is set for 1:30 PM in Ithaca, N.Y.