The Cornell men’s squash team, ranked 10th nationally, was defeated by fourth-ranked Yale with a score of 7-2 in their Ivy League finale at Belkin Squash Courts on Saturday. This result marks the eighth consecutive loss for Cornell, leaving them with an overall record of 4-9 and winless in Ivy League play at 0-6. Yale improved to 6-3 overall and holds a 4-1 conference record.
Yale continued its historical dominance over Cornell, now leading the all-time series between the two programs with a record of 65 wins to Cornell’s three.
Cornell secured two victories during the match. Sophomore Youssef Sarhan won at the No. 2 position after coming back from a deficit against Lachlan Sutton, ultimately winning in five games: 7-11, 14-12, 8-11, 12-10, and 11-3. Sarhan now has an individual dual match record of eight wins and four losses this season.
Freshman Aly Ezzat also recorded a win for Cornell at the No. 3 spot. Ezzat overcame Arav Bhagwati in another five-game contest after dropping the second and third games but recovering to take the last two: 11-5, 9-11, 7-11, 11-5, and finally edging out his opponent with a close score of 12-10 in the fifth game.
Yale secured straight-game victories at five positions during the match. At No. 8, Bennett Eun defeated Cornell freshman Vivaan Shah in five games after Shah had rallied to tie it up at two games each.
Looking ahead, Cornell will conclude its regular season on Wednesday, February 18th with an away match against No. 20 Rochester (5-5) at Lyman Squash Center beginning at 6 p.m.
Rochester recently advanced to the Liberty League Championship final by defeating Haverford in the semifinals and will face St. Lawrence for the league title on Sunday afternoon. In their head-to-head history spanning over eighty matches, Cornell leads Rochester with sixty-four wins to twenty and has won their last five encounters; Rochester last beat Cornell on December 4th, 2019.
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