Dartmouth faced all three of its tournament opponents during the regular season, losing by 7-2 margins to both Yale and Harvard (9-6, 3-3 Ivy). The Big Green had previously swept Franklin & Marshall (11-7), 9-0.
In the opening round of play at the Potter Cup, six Yale players defeated their Dartmouth opponents in straight games.
Robbie Maycock '13 forced sophomore Kenneth Chan to five games before falling. Maycock narrowly won the first game, 14-12, and also won the second, 11-7. Chan took the third and fourth games relatively easily, however, winning 11-5 and 11-3. Maycock and Chan battled in the fifth game before Chan won, 11-8, taking the number three match.
At the number five position, Luke Lee '12 pulled out an exciting win against junior John Roberts. Lee dropped the first game, 8-11, but fought back to take the next two, 11-7 each. Roberts forced the match to continue after he won the fourth game, 11-6. Lee prevailed to win the fifth game, 11-9, achieving Big Green's sole victory against Yale.
"[Lee] has changed some things about his game and has been playing really well recently," head coach Hansi Wiens said. "It is nice to see him improving."
Chris Hanson '13 was unable to play in the opening round due to a back injury. The men's ladder was shifted up, and Stephen Wetherill '12 was added to the lineup.
Due to its first round loss, the Big Green continued the weekend playing in the consolation bracket. In the second round of matches the consolation semifinals Harvard triumphed over the Big Green, 8-1, and Cornell (10-6, 4-3 Ivy) defeated Franklin & Marshall, 7-2.
Hanson and Alex Kurth '13 both played their matches to four games, while five Dartmouth players fell in three straight games. Two Big Green players played their opponents to five games.
In his second lengthy match of the weekend, Lee traded off games with Harvard freshman Nigel Koh. Lee and Koh split the first two games, before Koh won the third, 11-8. Lee forced the match into a fifth game by edging out Koh in the fourth, 12-10. Lee could not hold on, however, and Koh quickly took the final game, 11-3.
Fletcher Pease '14 secured the only victory for the Big Green against the Crimson, defeating sophomore Alexander Ma in a five-game duel. Ma took the first game, 11-7, while Pease won the second, 11-6. After Ma took the third convincingly, 11-3, Pease worked to win the fourth and fifth games, both 11-9.
"Fletcher is a real fighter," Wiens said. "He always gives 100 percent on every ball and his fitness is his biggest strength. We will work to get his technique better so he does not have to fight so much."
The Big Green beat Franklin & Marshall, 7-2, in its final matchup of the weekend. With the win, Dartmouth secured the nation's seventh-place ranking the same standing the Big Green was slated in before it entered the tournament.
Brian O'Toole '12 and Maycock both won exciting five-game matches in the contest.
"We are just so happy to end the season with a win," O'Toole said. "It is sad to see the seniors go because they've been like brothers to me. I love these guys everyone gives it all every match because we all want to win for each other."
Wiens said the team exhibited a strong effort in the matchup.
"Franklin & Marshall was more challenging than when we played them five or six weeks ago and won, 9-0," he said. "The matches were tougher and there was some great squash played today."
Co-captain Mike Lewis said he was proud of the team's performance, noting he was happy to end his collegiate career with the tournament.
"The matches [against Franklin & Marshall] were tight from top to bottom," he said. "We would have loved to pick up an upset along the way but it is not easy at all at this level to finish in the top eight, so being seventh was awesome. We gave it all we had, bounced back on Sunday and held our ground."
Trinity College defeated Yale in the finals of the Potter Cup, 5-4. The contest marked the closest match the two teams have played all season. The tournament win for Trinity (20-0, 1-0 NESCAC) marked its 13th consecutive national title and the team's 243rd straight victory. The winning streak is the longest for any sport in the history of American varsity intercollegiate athletics.
Dartmouth will host the CSA Individual Championships next weekend. One-hundred sixty top male and female collegiate squash players will compete in both an A and a B bracket at the event.
Valeria Wiens '13, Corey Schafer '13 and captain Hannah Conant '11 will likely all compete for the Dartmouth women's team. The men's team will most likely send its top three players Hanson, Jung and Nick Sisodia '12 although the official brackets will not be released until Monday evening.
