Pearson leads men's squash to 5-4 win over tough Yale team

Exciting. Nail-biting. Good to the last drop. The men's squash team's 5-4 victory over Yale last Saturday in Jadwin Gym was both exhausting and exhilarating to the very last point.

Princeton junior No. 5 Eric Pearson came up with a clutch performance in the biggest match of the season thus far for men's squash.

Pearson won the fifth and deciding match against Yale to keep Princeton undefeated and tied with Harvard atop the Ivy League standings.

Princeton (6-0 overall, 4-0 Ivy League) and Yale were tied 4-4 with Pearson's match against Christopher Olsen left as the deciding point. Pearson had match point in the fourth game, leading 8-6. Olson, however, came back to win the game, 10-9, propelling the match to a fifth, deciding game.

In the final game, Pearson and Olson started off evenly, tied 3-3. Pearson, however, took control of the match with a sudden burst and won the last six points to win the game, 9-3, and send Yale home with a disheartening loss.

Pearson's win was all the more impressive considering the fact that it was his second match back after he strained a ligament in his knee last December.

"This was one match where you thought you were going to win, then going to lose, then going to win, then going to lose, and finally winning it," coach Bob Callahan '77 said.

"This was one of the most exciting matches that I have been a part of."

After the even set, the teams were tied at two matches apiece. Junior David Yik, now playing at the No. 2 spot, easily disposed of Joshua Schwartz, 3-0. Senior No. 4 Peter Kelly also won his match with ease, defeating Ryan Byrnes 3-0. Freshmen Dent Wilkins and Rob Siverd were both defeated at the No. 6 and No. 8 spots, respectively.

The Tigers got off to a fast start in the odd set as junior Will Evans won 3-0 at the No. 1 spot and junior Danny Rutherford won 3-1 at the No. 3 position.

"Will really played spectacularly. He had three strong games," said Callahan.

With Princeton ahead 4-2, Callahan and the rest of the team knew that they only needed to win one of the remaining three matches. Freshman No. 9 Nate Beck started very slowly, dropping the first two games and then falling behind 8-0 in the third. Facing multiple match points, Beck remained unfazed and came back to win the game, 10-9. He then won the fourth game and even held match point in the fifth game before falling.

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Sophomore No. 7 Aaron Zim-merman fought long and hard in his match, but always seemed a step behind Yale's Gavin Cumberbatch. He eventually fell in the fifth game, tying the match 4-4 and setting the stage for Pearson's heroics.

Despite not winning any of the No. 6-9 matches, Callahan was pleased with the mettle shown by the bottom of his lineup. Two of these four matches went to a deciding fifth game.

"I was excited with the way those guys played," said Callahan. "On paper, Yale was heavily favored on the bottom and we hung tough with them."

With this victory, the Tigers remain first in the Ivy League, maintaining their tie with Harvard. Both teams are undefeated in the conference.

Friday, the Tigers earned a 9-0 victory over Penn. Evans scored a huge win over Penn's Repetto, who was formerly ranked No. 1 in the US Junior Squash rankings. The rest of the top five also performed well and Pearson made his debut after his injury with a win.

This weekend, the Tigers first travel to Dartmouth and then to Harvard for a crucial match-up. If Princeton beats Dartmouth only a victory over Harvard stands between them and the Ivy League Championship. If the team loses to Harvard, it can still get a share of the title if Yale beats Harvard the following weekend.