CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The No. 6 Harvard Men's Squash program will begin its hunt for the Potter Cup this week when it heads to Philadelphia to compete in the 2025 CSA Team National Championships. The Crimson (8-5, 3-3 Ivy) will enter the tournament as the sixth seed in the Potter Cup draw and is slated to face off with No. 11 Dartmouth in the opening round of play on Thursday afternoon.
 

What to Know

The Matchup

The No. 6 Crimson will begin its chased for a 32nd National title and 30^th Potter Cup in program history this weekend at the 2025 CSA National Championships. Harvard will first take on the No. 11 Dartmouth Big Green in the round of 16 on Thursday afternoon. The Ivy battle is set to begin at 3:00 PM at the Arlen Specter Squash Center in Philadelphia, Pa.
 

Against Dartmouth

Harvard and Dartmouth have already met on the courts this season, an 8-1 Crimson victory back on Dec. 4, 2024. The Crimson owns an 84-1 advantage against the Big Green in the all-time series dating back to the 1939 season. Led by Mike Way, the Gregory Lee '87 and Russell Ball '88 Endowed Coach for Squash at Harvard University, Harvard has come out on top in each of the past ten meetings with the Big Green. This will be the first time the teams are meeting in the postseason since the 2019 season when Harvard advanced with a 7-2 result.
 

Analyzing the Bracket

12 teams will compete in the Potter Cup draw at the CSA Team National Championships with the chase for the National title beginning on Thursday with the round of 16. Harvard – the tournament's six-seed – will compete against Dartmouth in the round of 16 with the winner advancing to faceoff against the third-seeded Yale Bulldogs in the quarterfinal round on Friday. The winner of the quarterfinal round will move on to face either No. 2 Princeton, No. 7 Drexel or No. 10 Williams in the semifinal round.
 
On the other side of the bracket, No. 1 Penn will compete against the winner of No. 9 Cornell and No. 8 Columbia. The winner of that quadrant will play against the winner of No. 4 Trinity and No.5 Virginia/No. 12 Tufts.
 
Harvard owns five wins this season against teams in the Potter Cup Playoffs.
 

Thank You, Seniors

Harvard will honored its five-athlete Class of 2025 before its final regular season match against Drexel. Zach Baskir, Tate Harms, Neel Joshi, Conner Stoltz and Erik Wang helped the Crimson win national titles in 2022 and 2023, and an Ivy League crown in '23.'
 

Under Coach Way

The Crimson has posted a 30-9 overall record in the Potter Cup playoffs under Mike Way dating back to the 2010-11 season. Way has mentored five National Championship winning programs in his tenure. The Crimson skipper has also guided the team to a 3-0 record against Dartmouth at the Nationals and a 2-1 record against Yale – Harvard's potential second-round opponent – in the playoff format.
 

An Experienced Group

Seven members of the Harvard lineup will hit the courts this weekend with playing experience at the Nationals. Senior captain Tate Harms has the most matches played in the Potter Cup with nine and the most wins with six. Denis Gielvskiy has risen to the occasion in past appearances at the Nationals posting a team-best winning percentage with a 5-1 record and an 83-percent winning clip. Other experienced participants include David Costales and Neel Joshi - who each own three wins in the Potter Cup – along with Conner Stoltz, Jacob Lin and Omar Azzam.
 

Breaking Down the Stats

After a 13-match regular season, Neel Joshi emerged as the team leader in individual victories for 2024-25. A senior, Joshi collected 12 wins and only one defeat primarily from the third position on the Crimson ladder. Junior Denis Gilevskiy – the primary second position for Harvard – joins Joshi in double digits with 10 victories. David Costales, Jacob Lin and Segev Rome all head into the postseason with nine wins in their 2024-25 registers.
 
The Crimson's combined individual record reads 70 wins to 47 losses with their individual games record sitting at 240-185 after 13 matches.
 

Covered in Ivy

Three student-athletes from the Harvard men's squash team were honored by the Ivy League this season by earning spots on the All-Ivy League First Team. The top three positions on the Crimson ladder were represented as David Costales, Denis Gilevskiy and Neel Joshi all earned the recognition. It was the second All-Ivy League First Team placement for Costales while Joshi and Gilevskiy earned their first career All-Ivy honors.
 

Individual Nationals Recap

The Crimson men's squash teams completed a successful run at the CSA National Championships earlier this season, earning six placements in the top 16 with Neel Joshi, leading the way by finishing as quarter-finalist in the Pool Trophy draw. Jacob Lin came back to Cambridge with some hardware after winning his divisional draws in the Molloy Cup.
 
In the Pool Trophy main draw for the men, Neel Joshi advanced to the quarterfinal round, his best finish at the nationals in his collegiate career. David Costales and Denis Gilevskiy finished in the 9-16 range after falling in their quarterfinal matchups. Jacob Lin captured the Molly North championship title after defeating Sharan Punjabi from Franklin and Marshall in sweeping fashion in the final round. Segev Rome finished as a semifinalist in the West draw of the Molloy Cup and Conner Stoltz finished in sixth after advancing to the finals of the consolation bracket in the Molloy East draw.