PHILADELPHIA — The 10th-seeded Cornell men's squash team dropped a 7-2 decision to No. 7 Drexel on Thursday morning in the first round of the Potter Cup at the CSA National Team Championships.
Despite the final score, Cornell freshman
Edward Thng pushed Drexel's Charlie Taylor to five games at the No. 6 position before ultimately falling, 6-11, 5-11, 17-15, 11-5, 12-10, in the lone match that went the distance. Sophomore
Vivaan Shah and freshman
Ethan Jain each took a game at Nos. 8 and 9, respectively, before falling in four games.
The bright spots for the Big Red (5-10) came at the top and middle of the lineup. Junior
Syan Singh won in commanding fashion at No. 1, dispatching Nicolas Serna, 11-7, 11-9, 11-6, while freshman
Aly Ezzat delivered a straight-games victory of his own at No. 3, defeating Youssef Bastawy, 11-3, 11-9, 11-7, providing Cornell's lone wins on the day.
Drexel (11-5) controlled the rest of the lineup as Guido Lindner, Yuri Pelbart, Luhann Goenewald and Thiago Cabrejos each won in straight games at Nos. 2, 4, 5 and 7, respectively. Lindner's win over sophomore
Youssef Sarhan at No. 2 snapped Sarhan's three-match win streak.
Tavneet Mundra recovered from dropping the opening game to Shah to win the next three at No. 8.
RESULTS
No. 1:
Syan Singh def. Nicolas Serna, 11-7, 11-9, 11-6.
No. 2: Guido Lindner def.
Youssef Sarhan, 12-10, 11-2, 11-7.
No. 3:
Aly Ezzat def. Youssef Bastawy, 11-3, 11-9, 11-7.
No. 4: Yuri Pelbart def.
Roman Bicknell, 11-2, 11-5, 11-3.
No. 5: Luhann Goenewald def.
Arnav Tevatia, 11-2, 11-5, 11-5.
No. 6: Charlie Taylor def.
Edward Thng, 6-11, 5-11, 17-15, 11-5, 12-10.
No. 7: Thiago Cabrejos def.
Jeh Pandole, 11-2, 11-8, 11-4.
No. 8: Tavneet Mundra def.
Vivaan Shah, 2-11, 11-3, 11-3, 11-3.
No. 9: Darien Benn def.
Ethan Jain, 11-1, 9-11, 11-7, 11-2.
UP NEXT
Cornell will turn its attention to the Potter Cup first consolation semifinals, where it will face 11th-seeded Tufts (12-7) on Friday at 10:30 a.m. The Jumbos dropped an 8-1 decision to No. 6 Columbia on Thursday, with Rohan Valia providing their lone win at the No. 3 position.
History has been on the Big Red's side of late as Cornell's 6-3 victory over Tufts on Nov. 23 in Ithaca was its 12th consecutive win against the Jumbos. Tufts' last win over Cornell came in the inaugural meeting between the programs on Jan. 24, 1981, in Medford, Mass.
Friday will mark the second straight year the programs have met at the CSA National Team Championships as Cornell posted an 8-1 win in last year's first consolation semifinals.
