M. squash eases through Crimson, Big Green

They didn't travel to Princeton from all over the East Coast, Canada and New Zealand to be disappointed.

Many parents of men's squash players trekked across great distances to witness a pair of exciting matches this past weekend and watched as their sons clinched the Ivy League Championship for the third time in four years.

An undefeated men's squash team (7-0 overall, 6-0 Ivy League) knew it had to be in top form as it faced Dartmouth (10-4, 2-3) and Harvard (6-2, 4-1).

The first test was the Big Green on Saturday afternoon. While not the strongest team in the league, Dartmouth had the potential to do some damage to the Tigers' record. Princeton was without seniors No. 4 Dan Rutherford, struggling with back problems, and No. 5 Eric Pearson, recovering from illness.

The bottom of the Princeton lineup played up two spots, bringing in freshman Will Boothby at No. 8 and junior Will Osnato at No. 9. Both Boothby and Osnato won their matches, 3-0. Almost everyone else had an easy time in his match. Nos. 1 through 4 — freshman Yasser El Halaby, seniors Will Evans and David Yik and junior Aaron Zimmerman — also won in three games, as did Nos. 6 and 7, sophomores Nathan Beck and Rob Siverd.

At No. 5, however, sophomore Dent Wilkens found himself down 2-1 after three games, but he battled back to take the next two games for a strong 0-9, 9-6, 6-9, 9-5, 9-7 victory, preserving Princeton's 9-0 sweep of the Big Green.

That night, the squash teammates and their families gathered to celebrate the approaching end of a successful 2002-2003 season. The team honored its seniors, who would play their last regular season matches on home turf the next day.

Though the team already had many accomplishments to celebrate — victories at the Ivy League scrimmage and the Five-Man Team Championships — the Ivy title was not yet the Tigers'. First Princeton had to beat Harvard, one of the top three teams in the league.

Sunday's Crimson match saw the return of Rutherford and Pearson to the Tiger lineup. But victory would not be easy.

The even seeds played first. At No. 2, Evans took his match, 3-0. Trying to ignore his back trouble, Rutherford took his first two games at No. 4. His opponent, Dylan Patterson, won the next game and served for the fourth game at 9-8. Determined not to let the match go on to five games, Rutherford won back the serve and earned the next two points for a 3-1 victory.

Tough four and five-game losses from No. 6 Zimmerman and No. 8 Beck tied the match early, 2-2. It was up to the odd-seeded players to determine the overall victor.

No. 1 El Halaby rallied from being down game point to take his first game. He refused to give his opponent any more opportunities and won his match, 3-0.

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Playing at No. 5 and still recovering from illness, Pearson had a chance to seal a Tiger victory. He won his first two games, but the third appeared to belong to his opponent, who served for the game at 9-8. In a finish similar to Rutherford's match, Pearson won the serve back, and went on to take the next two points to win his individual match and clinch his team's victory — not only for the Harvard match but also for the Ivy League Championship.

Pearson's victory was followed closely by No. 7 Wilkens's 3-1 win over Thomas Storch, to whom Wilkens lost in last year's Harvard match. Yik also pulled off a close 3-2 victory to make the final score of the match 7-2.

"We had a great crowd today," coach Bob Callahan said. "They gave us tremendous support, and it meant a lot to the team."

"The Ivy title was one of our main goals," Callahan said. "We have a remarkable group [of athletes], and they all wanted the seniors to have their moment. The class of 2003 is one of the great classes in Princeton squash history."