HARTFORD, Conn. – Despite the No. 8-ranked Cornell men's squash team falling to top-ranked Harvard, 8-1, in the quarterfinals of the Potter Cup at the College Squash Association National Championships, senior Veer Chotrani handed Marwan Tarek his first loss of this season in a four-game victory at the No. 1 position on Friday afternoon.

Tarek won the opening game, 11-8, but Chotrani cruised for the remainder of the match having an 11-6 win bookended by 11-7 victories.

The loss at the No. 1 position for Harvard was its first defeat at the top spot this season.

Of Harvard's eight match victories, seven came in three-game sweeps. The lone match to go farther than three games was at the No. 4 position where junior Spencer Yager battled Tate Harms in five games.

Yager won the opening game, 11-8, before Harms took a 2-1 lead behind 11-7 and 11-2 victories. A decisive fifth game was forced after Yager won the fourth game, 11-7, but Harms took the final game by the same score.

The match for Cornell was its first in the top-flight of the College Squash Associations' National Championships since the 2013-14 season.

Results

No. 1: Veer Chotrani def. Marwan Tarek, 8-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-7.
No. 2: George Crowne def. Aaron Liang, 11-7, 11-3, 11-7.
No. 3: Ido Burstein def. Arnaav Sareen, 11-5, 11-3, 11-2.
No. 4: Tate Harms def. Spencer Yager, 8-11, 11-7, 11-2, 7-11, 11-7.
No. 5: Denis Gilevskiy def. Humza Khan, 11-2, 11-2, 11-5.
No. 6: David Costales def. Rohan Iyer, 11-2, 11-2, 11-3.
No. 7: Neel Joshi def. Tanay Punjabi, 11-9, 11-4, 11-4.
No. 8: Liam Rotzoll def. Morgan Huberman, 11-6, 11-6, 11-7.
No. 9: Ayush Menon def. Nicholas Göth Errington, 11-6, 11-7, 14-12.

Looking Ahead

Cornell will play its remaining two games in the consolation bracket of the Potter Cup, beginning with a match against No. 5 Virginia at 6 p.m. on Saturday. The Big Red will then play either No. 3 Princeton or No. 7 Drexel on Sunday at either 11 a.m. or 2:30 p.m.

Scouting Virginia

Cornell and Virginia most recently played back on March 12 in Philadelphia, in which the Cavaliers took the victory by a 7-2 score.

Tanay Punjabi and Nicholas Göth Errington posted four-game victories for the Big Red.

Virginia fell to No. 4-ranked Yale, 6-3, in Friday's quarterfinals action. Aly Hussein (No. 1), Omar El Torkey (No. 2), and John Paul Tew (No. 4) were the players victorious for the Cavaliers in the defeat. Half of Yale's six wins came in five-game matches.