Mission accomplished.

The men’s squash team defeated Harvard 8–1 Saturday at the Brady Squash Center to win its seventh Ivy League Championship title in school history.

“I’m still on cloud nine, and I think most of the team is,” Rusty Feldman ’10 said. “Our coach was so proud, and all the guys on the team were elated.”

This is the first time the Bulldogs (12–1, 6–0 Ivy) have won the Ivy Title outright since 1990. In 2006, the Elis split the honor with Harvard and Princeton.

“It was only our second title in 20 years,” head coach Dave Talbott said. “Most of them weren’t born the last time we won.”

Five of the nine matches were won 3–0. Naishadh Lalwani ’11 and captain Todd Ruth ’10 pulled out 3–1 victories at No. 6 and No. 2, respectively, while Aaron Fuchs ’11 toughed out a five-game match at the No. 3 spot.

“Fuchs played an inspiring match and just kept showing that he was willing to dig deep,” Sharyar Aziz ’10 said. “Everyone who played had a lot of heart and dedication, and that’s always a big contributing factor.”

In the No. 1 position, Kenny Chan ’13 had a 3–1 loss to Harvard senior Colin West, who was ranked third in the nation after last year’s College Squash Association Singles Tournament.

Following the match, the Bulldogs were presented with the Ivy League Championship trophy.

The win capped a perfect Ivy season for the Elis. The only blemish on the Bulldog’s record this season is their loss to No. 1 Trinity on Jan. 20.

“They set their goals in August and never waivered” Talbott said. “They had the goal of winning the Ivy’s first and foremost. Number two is to win a national championship, and they still have a shot to do that next week.”

In the CSA Teams Championships, to be held at the Brady Squash center from Feb. 19 to 21, the Elis are scheduled to face off against Rochester in their quarterfinal match if they win their first match on Friday. Last year, the Bulldogs defeated the Yellowjackets during the regular season but lost to them during Nationals.

“The guys on the team last year didn’t forget that Rochester match easily,” Feldman said. “And there is still so much to do before we would even think about Trinity. At this point, we can’t look too far ahead.”

Aziz attributed much of the team’s success to Ruth’s leadership and the example he has set for the team since August.

“I can’t write it up any better: Being captain of the first non-shared ivy championship in 20 years and doing it on our home courts made it that much better,” Ruth said. “Now, we just need to focus for one more week and try to steal a national championship.”