Saturday, December 9
Princeton, N.J.
12:00 PM
Princeton University
7
vs
2
Drexel
Komron Shayegan posted a key win midway through Princeton's 7-2 victory over seventh-ranked Drexel.
Photo by: Beverly Schaefer
Men's Squash Picks Up Highest-Ranked Win In Five Years, Routs #7 Drexel 7-2
December 09, 2017 | Men's Squash
The eighth-ranked Princeton men's squash team took a big step towards returning to the A flight of the CSA national championships, but it also showed that simply getting into the top eight isn't the lone goal of the 2017-18 season. The Tigers concluded the 2017 portion of their season in impressive fashion Saturday at Jadwin, as they controlled both shifts against seventh-ranked Drexel in a 7-2 victory.
The victory improves Princeton to 4-1 on the season, and it provides the first win over a team inside the Top 8 since the emotional 5-4 win over eighth-ranked Penn on Jan. 28, 2015, the night after former head coach Bob Callahan '77 passed away. It matches the Tigers' highest-ranked win under head coach Sean Wilkinson, as Princeton also defeated seventh-ranked Franklin & Marshall on Nov. 22, 2014.
Princeton's lone loss this season came to third-ranked St. Lawrence, and that was a 5-4 thriller.
The Tigers wasted no time grabbing control of the match, as they claimed a 3-1 lead following the first shift. Senior co-captain Abhimanyu Shah steered the ship in the right direction with a 3-0 win at No. 8, and freshman Duncan Joyce added a tight 3-0 win at the No. 6 spot. Junior Cody Cortes dropped a close 3-1 match at No. 4, but sophomore Adhitya Raghavan made sure momentum wouldn't go to Drexel's side. He won two tight games over Bransten Ming, but found himself down 7-1 in the third set. Undaunted, he battled back to win 10 of the final 12 points and finish off a 3-0 victory.
A pair of freshmen took center stage from there, including No. 1 player Youssef Ibrahim, who remained perfect on the season with an impressive showing against Lucas Rousselet. He was pushed a bit in the middle game, but controlled play throughout in a 3-0 win.
Princeton will now take about a month off for winter break, and it will return to the court Jan. 7 to take on Virginia.
PRINCETON 7, DREXEL 2
1 - Youssef Ibrahim (P) d. Lucas Rousselet 5, 10, 6
2 - Adhitya Raghavan (P) d. Bransten Ming 11, 9, 9
3 - Cole Becker (P) d. Atticus Kelly (11), 8, 9, 9
4 - Dylan Kachur (D) d. Cody Cortes 5, (7), 9, 6
5 - Clark Doyle (P) d. Nat Fry 7, 3, 5
6 - Duncan Joyce (P) d. Josh Hughes 14, 8, 8
7 - Komron Shayegan (P) d. Noel Solomon 10, 8, 8
8 - Abhimanyu Shah (P) d. Cillian Dunne 7, 7, 7
9 - Mostafa Makourin (D) d. Henry Parkhurst 10, 9, (12), 11
The victory improves Princeton to 4-1 on the season, and it provides the first win over a team inside the Top 8 since the emotional 5-4 win over eighth-ranked Penn on Jan. 28, 2015, the night after former head coach Bob Callahan '77 passed away. It matches the Tigers' highest-ranked win under head coach Sean Wilkinson, as Princeton also defeated seventh-ranked Franklin & Marshall on Nov. 22, 2014.
Princeton's lone loss this season came to third-ranked St. Lawrence, and that was a 5-4 thriller.
The Tigers wasted no time grabbing control of the match, as they claimed a 3-1 lead following the first shift. Senior co-captain Abhimanyu Shah steered the ship in the right direction with a 3-0 win at No. 8, and freshman Duncan Joyce added a tight 3-0 win at the No. 6 spot. Junior Cody Cortes dropped a close 3-1 match at No. 4, but sophomore Adhitya Raghavan made sure momentum wouldn't go to Drexel's side. He won two tight games over Bransten Ming, but found himself down 7-1 in the third set. Undaunted, he battled back to win 10 of the final 12 points and finish off a 3-0 victory.
While one captain started the first shift in style, the other handled that responsibility for the second one. Senior Komron Shayegan trailed his opening game at the No. 7 spot 9-4, but won six of the next seven points to force extra play. He closed Noel Solomon 12-10, and then won a pair of 11-8 games to put the Tigers on the brink of victory. Junior Clark Doyle was happy to pull the team over the line, as he controlled play at No. 5 and scored a 3-0 win over Nat Fry.Down 7-1, Adhitya Raghavan comes all the way back and closes his match with this thriller. Tigers up 3-1 after the first shift! pic.twitter.com/Xo8nyMgPGM
— Princeton MSQUASH (@princetonmsq) December 9, 2017
A pair of freshmen took center stage from there, including No. 1 player Youssef Ibrahim, who remained perfect on the season with an impressive showing against Lucas Rousselet. He was pushed a bit in the middle game, but controlled play throughout in a 3-0 win.
While sophomore Henry Parkhurst fell in a tight four-game match, freshman Cole Becker punctuated the win in style with a comeback effort at the No. 3 spot. He dropped his opener 13-11, but then found the big late points in the final three for an 11-13, 11-8, 11-9, 11-9 victory.Youssef Ibrahim remains unbeaten as a freshman, and the Tigers lead goes to 4-1 over #7 Drexel! pic.twitter.com/y47wL6J13f
— Princeton MSQUASH (@princetonmsq) December 9, 2017
Princeton will now take about a month off for winter break, and it will return to the court Jan. 7 to take on Virginia.
PRINCETON 7, DREXEL 2
1 - Youssef Ibrahim (P) d. Lucas Rousselet 5, 10, 6
2 - Adhitya Raghavan (P) d. Bransten Ming 11, 9, 9
3 - Cole Becker (P) d. Atticus Kelly (11), 8, 9, 9
4 - Dylan Kachur (D) d. Cody Cortes 5, (7), 9, 6
5 - Clark Doyle (P) d. Nat Fry 7, 3, 5
6 - Duncan Joyce (P) d. Josh Hughes 14, 8, 8
7 - Komron Shayegan (P) d. Noel Solomon 10, 8, 8
8 - Abhimanyu Shah (P) d. Cillian Dunne 7, 7, 7
9 - Mostafa Makourin (D) d. Henry Parkhurst 10, 9, (12), 11
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Squash
/ Men's Squash
/ Men's Squash
/ Men's Squash
/ Men's Squash
/ Men's Squash
/ Men's Squash
/ Men's Squash
/ Men's Squash
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