CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The No. 5 Franklin & Marshall men's squash team avenged a loss earlier in the season to No. 4 St. Lawrence with a narrow 5-4 victory over the Saints in the opening round of the Collegiate Squash Association (CSA) Team Championships on Friday evening in Cambridge.
The victory moved the Diplomats' record to 15-3 on the year, advancing F&M to the national semifinals and matchup with the tournament's host, No. 1 Harvard tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. St. Lawrence dropped down to the consolation bracket with the loss, while its record fell to 10-4.
The Saints took both the No. 1 and No. 2 matches but the middle of F&M's lineup continued its clutch play from throughout the season, delivering wins from the No. 3-6 spots. Mauricio Sedano has been red hot, entering the competition with 10-straight wins. The senior picked up right where he left off, rolling to a 3-0 victory (12-10, 11-0, 11-4) from No. 3.
Wesley "Cole" Osborne followed with a sweep of his own at No. 4 (11-9, 11-2, 11-4), while Alex Arjoon was tested from the No. 5 position but came away with a clutch 3-1 victory (11-8, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8). Pedro Veiga de Almeida was solid from No. 6, delivering the Diplomats a sweep (11-6, 11-7, 11-6).
St. Lawrence earned wins at No. 7 and No. 8, but Brian Henry outlasted his opponent at No. 9 with a 3-1 score (11-9, 4-11, 12-10, 14-12).
The win improved the Diplomats lead to 8-2 in the overall series between these two opponents and made up for a heartbreaking 5-4 loss to the Saints back on Feb. 1 of this year.
F&M has its work cut out for it tomorrow, taking on the nation's No. 1 team in Harvard at noon, an opponent the Diplomats have never beaten (0-15) and one that enters the semifinal match with a perfect 16-0 record on the season. The Crimson advanced to the round of four with a dominating 9-0 win over Penn. earlier in the day.
Live brackets for tomorrow can be found here.
#5 Franklin & Marshall 5, #4 St. Lawrence 4
1. Amr Khalifa (STLMSQ) def. Abhishek Pradhan (F&M) 11-2, 11-3, 11-6
2. Moustafa Bayoumy (STLMSQ) def. Jack Cutler (F&M) 12-14, 11-3, 11-5, 11-5
3. Mauricio Sedano (F&M) def. Ibrahim Khan (STLMSQ) 12-10, 11-0, 11-4
4. Wesley Osborne (F&M) def. Vir Seth (STLMSQ) 11-9, 11-2, 11-4
5. Alex Arjoon (F&M) def. S. Riedelsheimer (STLMSQ) 11-8, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8
6. P. Veiga de Almeida (F&M) def. Kyle Ogilvy (STLMSQ) 11-6, 11-7, 11-6
7. Anderson Good (STLMSQ) def. Dylan Cunningham (F&M) 11-5, 7-11, 11-3, 15-13
8. Chris Fernandez (STLMSQ) def. Ryan Mullaney (F&M) 11-13, 11-6, 11-5, 11-8
9. Brian Henry (F&M) def. Duncan Maxwell (STLMSQ) 11-9, 4-11, 12-10, 14-12
10. Timothy Lasusa (STLMSQ) vs. Aadit Zaveri (F&M) no result
