The nationally ranked No. 6 Yale men’s squash team extended its winning streak to five games after defeating two Ivy League opponents this weekend in New York.
The trip to No. 4 Cornell(7–1, Ivy 2–1) and No. 9 Columbia (3–2, 1–2 Ivy) marked the end of a four-match road trip for the Elis (5–0, Ivy 2–0), who defeated Colby and Williams earlier on Jan. 5 in Massachusetts. Yale won both matches against the Ivy League rivals 8–1.
“Wins against tough Ivy teams like Cornell and Columbia are great,” Eric Caine ’14 said. “We’re not going to change anything though. We’ll keep our heads down, keep working hard and not take anything for granted.”
In a positive start to the away trip, the Bulldogs swept No. 19 Colby 9–0, and all Yale players won their matches in three games. Against the Mules, Yale had two rookies in the lineup as Pehlaaj Bajwa ’16 and Peter Dewire ’16 played at the No. 6 and No. 7 spots, respectively. Colby fell to No. 12 Williams earlier in the day 9–0.
The Bulldogs were successful against the Ephs as well, coming away with a 5–4 victory. The victory came down to the senior powerhouses from overseas — Kenneth Chan ’13 and team captain Hywel Robinson ’13 — at the top two positions for the Elis.
“It is important throughout the season that we focus on the next game, not looking too far into the future,” Robinson said. “It’s going to be a tough couple of weeks, but I know the team is best prepared to tackle this challenge head-on. All the preparation that we put in during the fall is paying dividends.”
At Cornell, the Bulldogs were successful again, managing a 8–1 win. Richard Dodd ’13, Zachary Leman ’16 and Joseph Roberts ’15 began the first cycle of play with three consecutive wins at the No. 3, No. 6 and No. 9 spots respectively. Sam Fenwick ’16 won at No. 5 after coming back right from the Welsh Squash Nationals. Chan was the only Yale player to concede a loss against a tough Cornell opponent at No. 1.
Continuing their path of triumph, Yale went on to defeat the Lions easily 8–1 at the SL Green StreetSquash Center in New York. The Elis used the same lineup as they had against Cornell and again swept the second through ninth spots. Chan came up against another hard opponent in Ramit Tandon, the No. 2 player in the nation and dropped the match 3–0. After their away trip, Caine and Robinson remained undefeated in season play.
“I was proud of the way the team played on the road and can’t wait to see what they can accomplish in the remainder of the season,” Chan said.
Yale will host its next two matches, against Rochester and Bowdoin, this coming weekend at the Brady Squash Center in New Haven.