Princeton, N.J. – Senior co-captain Jonathan Smith (Leeds, England) won the deciding match, 3-0, at the No. 7 position to lead the visiting Trinity College Bantams to a 6-3 win over the Princeton University Tigers in the final round of the College Squash Association (CSA) National Men’s Team Championships (Potter Trophy) this afternoon at Jadwin Gymnasium.
Trinity, ranked No. 1 in the nation, finishes the season with a 19-0 record, tying a College record for wins, and extends its winning streak to 90 consecutive matches dating back to 1998. The Bantams, seeded No. 1 in the eight-team, tournament field, win their fifth consecutive Potter Trophy title with the win over the No. 2-seeded Tigers. The Bantams had defeated Princeton, 8-1, in the regular finale last weekend in Hartford.
With Trinity leading the match, 4-1, Smith won a pair of tough games to take a 2-0 lead and blasted Tiger sophomore Denton Wilkens (Rochester, N.Y.), 9-1, in the third game to give Trinity the five matches it needed for the title. Bantam junior No. 6 Nadeem Osman (Port Elizabeth, South Africa) and senior No. 9 Carl Baglio (Toronto, Ontario) gave the Bantams a 2-0 early with quick, 3-0, victories.
Senior co-captain Nicholas Kyme (Pembroke, Bermuda) lost the first of three defeats for Trinity on the No. 1 court to Tiger senior David Yik (North Vancouver, British Columbia) make the score, 2-1, after the first set of matches. The Bantams swept the bottom six matches on the other two courts.
Trinity junior Patrick Malloy (Boston, Mass.) posted a 3-1 win at No. 8 and sophomore No. 5 Regardt Schonborn (Bloemfontien, South Africa) won, 3-0, to put the Bantams up, 4-1, but a marathon contests at No. 2 between Trinity junior Michael Ferreira (Stamford, England) and Tiger senior Will Evans (Auckland, New Zealand) put the spotlight on Smith and Wilkens on the third court. Evans pulled out the No. 2 match, 3-2, and freshman teammate Yasser El-Halaby (Cairo, Egypt) handed Trinity sophomore Bernardo Samper (Bogota, Colombia) his second loss in two days in the No. 1 match. Trinity freshman No. 4 Yvain Badan (Lausanne, Switzerland) rounded out the scoring with a grueling, 3-2, triumph over Princeton senior Dan Rutherford (Calgary, Alberta).
MATCH
RESULTS
1. P- Yasser El-Halaby d. Bernardo Samper 10-8, 9-4, 9-2
2. P- Will Evans d. Michael Ferreira 10-8,
7-9, 6-9, 9-7, 9-3
3. P- David Yik d. Nicholas Kyme 4-9, 9-0, 9-1, 9-3
4. TC- Yvain Badan d. Dan Rutherford 7-9, 9-6, 5-9, 9-3, 9-1
5. TC- Regardt Schonborn d. Eric Pearson 9-3, 9-7, 9-5
6. TC- Nadeem Osman d. Aaron Zimmerman 9-2, 9-1, 9-3
7. TC- Jonathan Smith d. Denton Wilkens 9-2, 9-4, 9-1
8. TC- Patrick Malloy d. Nathan Beck 6-9, 9-3, 9-2, 9-4
9. TC- Carl Baglio d. Rob Siverd 9-2, 9-2, 9-2
Trinity (Conn.) 6, Princeton