Rematch with No. 4 Rochester Will Decide Title on Sunday
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — The Yale Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead and never looked back on Saturday in a national semifinal victory over St. Lawrence at the Brady Squash Center.
The Saints posed a challenge for the Elis, but the depth of Yale's lineup once again provided the edge as the Bulldogs claimed a 6-3 victory.
Sophomore Arjun Kochhar got things going at No. 9. After a 15-17 loss tied the match at one game apiece, Kochhar rattled off an 11-2 win to take the lead and would go on to win in four.
His fellow sophomore Max Martin prevailed at No. 6 in a five-game affair, coming up on the good side of several games decided by two points.
St. Lawrence took one back at No. 3 as Yale senior Sam Fenwick saw a comeback bid fall short. Down 2-0, Fenwick notched two wins to even the match before falling in the decider.
Leading 2-1, Yale went on to win the next four matches and assure victory. Junior Liam McClintock won 3-0 in the eighth spot, while sophomore Thomas Kingshott swapped games back and forth with his opponent before winning 11-6 in the fifth.
With Yale sitting on four wins, sophomore Pierson Broadwater went the distance with the Saints' Hussein Elrayes, fighting his way to an 11-9 victory in the decider to clinch the match for the Bulldogs.
Junior TJ Dembinski got in on the five-game fun with a tight win of his own in the second slot.
The Bulldog win sets up a Sunday showdown with Rochester, who upset No. 1 Trinity in a 5-4 thriller that came down to the final match.
The Yellowjackets are one of only two teams to have beaten Yale this season, having defeated the Bulldogs in Rochester on Jan. 17, albeit by a slim 5-4 margin. That meeting produced an incredibly close contest that came down to a battle between Yale's Kah Wah Cheong and Rochester's Tomotako Endo at No. 4. Cheong put himself up 2-1 with a 13-11 win in the third game, but Endo rallied to take the final two and hand Yale its first loss of the season.
The Bulldogs will look for a boost from home-court advantage tomorrow, as big matches at the Brady Squash Center tend to bring big Yale crowds.
Sunday's rematch promises another nail-biter, but with the added drama of a national championship hanging in the balance. The match is scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m. and will be streamed on the Ivy League Digital Network.
Report by Evan Brown '16, Yale Sports Publicity
Results:
1. Khalifa (S) def. Leman (Y) 11-1, 11-2, 11-3
2. Dembinski (Y) def. M. Bayoumy (S) 4-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-9, 11-8
3. A. Bayoumy (S) def. Fenwick (Y) 11-9, 11-8, 13-15, 6-11, 11-6
4. Puski (S) def. Cheong (Y) 13-11, 11-9, 11-1
5. Kingshott (Y) def. Elrayes (S) 11-7, 9-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-6
6. Martin (Y) def. Willis (S) 6-11, 11-9, 14-12, 11-13, 11-6
7. Broadwater (Y) def. Munro (S) 11-5, 9-11, 11-6, 4-11, 11-9
8. McClintock (Y) def. Lasusa (S) 11-7, 11-3, 11-6
9. Kochhar (Y) def. Jervis (S) 11-6, 15-17, 11-2, 11-8
