All good things must come to an end, even for Harvard. The No. 1 Crimson women's squash team found that out the hard way at home on Sunday.
No. 3 Princeton (6-0) marched into Boston and handed the six-time defending Howe Cup champions a decisive 7-2 defeat.
More importantly, the Tigers ended their 14-match losing streak to Harvard and halted the Crimson's consecutive win streak at 59 games.
Until Sunday's victory, Princeton had not defeated the Crimson since 1991.
Princeton won each of the top seven matches by a score of either 3-0 or 3-1. The Tigers' effort was paced by the outstanding play of, freshman No. 1 Julia Beaver, junior No. 2 Elise O'Connell and senior No. 3 Missy Wyant.
Good start
In the first match of the day, Wyant finally achieved her goal of a win against the Crimson in fashionable style, 0-9, 9-0, 9-3, 9-6. After being shut out in the first game, she retaliated by blanking Harvard's Stephanie Teaford 9-0 and set the tone for the rest of the day's matches.
"Missy had struggled in big matches in the past," head coach Gail Ramsay said. "But she was determined not to come off that court without a win."
Wyant's victory was followed by O'Connell's hard-fought 3-0 defeat of Harvard's Brooke Herlihy.
"I kept my game basic and hit the ball as hard as I could," O'Connell said. "The enthusiasm of the crowd really made it an intense match."
Additional victories by sophomore Liz Kelley in the No. 6 spot and freshman No. 5 Meredith Quick gave the Tigers a 4-2 edge heading into the final three matches. However, Harvard's last hopes of victory quickly faded.
No problems this time
Beaver, who lost to her Harvard nemesis Ivy Pachoda last weekend in a tournament, exploited Pachoda's weaknesses on the way to a 3-0 win. The win was marked by Beaver's barrage to the back right corner, making things difficult for her left-handed foe.
"Julia had the touch to answer anything Ivy put up," Ramsay said. "(Pachoda) struggled to stay on her feet throughout the entire match."
Princeton's resounding win was capped off with victories by sophomore No. 4 Blair Irwin and junior No. 7 Bebeth Schenk.
Even the two Tiger losses at No. 8 and No. 9 were encouraging to Ramsay. In their first appearance against Harvard, junior Avery Coleman and junior Sarah Wimmer pushed their opponents to matches of five games, threatening to shut out Harvard.
"Its pretty amazing we won seven out of the top seven matches," Ramsay said. "Somedays we are going to win seven, five or four matches, but next time anything could happen."
The Tigers are certainly not out of the woods yet. They still must challenge powerhouses Penn (No.2) and Yale for the league championship.
And after Sunday's win over Harvard, Princeton can certainly count on a heightened challenge from the Crimson in the Howe Cup.
"We showed them we are serious," O'Connell said. "Next time they are going to be out for blood."
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