PHILADELPHIA – Junior Aditya Jagtap used a four-game victory at the No. 1 position to secure the winning point for the men's squash team in a 5-4 victory over Drexel in its season debut Saturday at Kline & Specter Squash Center.
 
Ranked eighth in the nation, the Big Red (1-0) swept the opening rotation to take a 3-0 lead. Freshman Harry Freeman won his first collegiate match in four games at the No. 9 position, and senior Rishi Jalan breezed to a three-game victory at No. 6. Senior Bryan Keating then outlasted Michael Thompson in a five-game marathon at No. 3, with Keating taking the decisive game, 12-10.
 
The 21st-ranked Dragons (0-2) closed their deficit to 4-2 after the second rotation. Sophomore Graham Dietz sailed to a 11-2, 11-6, 11-7 victory at the No. 8 position to leave the Big Red within one point of sewing up the clash heading into the final three matches.
 
That set the stage for Jagtap, a 2013 All-Ivy selection, to wrap it up. He took a two-game lead on Ibrahim Bakir before Bakir won the third game. Jagtap then won the fourth game, 11-9, to end the match and send the Big Red into its match with No. 9 Western Ontario at 11 a.m. Sunday with a 1-0 record.
 
No. 8 CORNELL 5, No. 21 DREXEL 4
Saturday, at Kline & Specter Squash Center, Philadelphia
1. Aditya Jagtap (C) def. Ibrahim Bakir, 11-6, 11-5, 7-11, 11-9
2. Justin Singh (D) def. Ryan Todd, 11-4, 11-9, 9-11, 11-6
3. Bryan Keating (C) def. Michael Thompson, 11-9, 11-9, 7-11, 5-11, 12-10
4. Mark Kauf (D) def. Kevin Flannery, 11-5, 11-8, 11-4
5. Sebastian Dangond Gala (D) def. Gustav Runersjö, 11-5, 10-12, 11-5, 10-12, 11-6
6. Rishi Jalan (C) def. Noel Solomon, 11-5, 11-8, 11-4
7. Joey Gingold (D) def. Abhijit Malik, 15-13, 8-11, 6-11, 11-9, 11-3
8. Graham Dietz (C) def. Ben Bevan, 11-2, 11-6, 11-7
9. Harry Freeman (C) def. Nat Fry, 11-3, 11-9, 10-12, 11-5
10. Karan Kankariya (C) vs. Harshil Dokania, 11-2, 11-9, 9-11