Feb. 11, 2009

Complete Results

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Anchored by a pair of wins at the top of the ladder and three at the bottom, 11th-ranked Franklin & Marshall dashed Navy's hopes of ending the regular season with a win on its home court, as the Diplomats edged the 13th-ranked Midshipmen, 5-4, Wednesday evening at Halsey Field House in Annapolis. F&M's win snaps a two-match losing streak against the Mids and marks just its third win in the last 11 matches of the series.

Navy received a spectacular performance out of junior Nils Mattsson (Spring House, Pa.), ranked 49th in the country, who easily got by 43rd-ranked Nadav Tannen in three games, 9-0, 9-1, 9-3, at the No. 1 spot on the ladder. The win was Mattsson's 20th of the season, but more importantly he took sole possession of fifth on the Mids' career wins list during the Craig Dawson era with 63.

The middle portion of the ladder played particularly strong for the Mids, anchored by senior Allen Hartley (Charleston, W.Va.), who turned in a 9-4, 2-9, 10-9, 9-2 win over F&M's Chris Gagnier at No. 5. With 23 wins to his credit this season, he has surpassed last year's win total of 19.

Playing the No. 4 spot was sophomore Brad Seidel (Toledo, Ohio), who opened his match against Shane Slater with a hard-fought 10-8 win. Slater, though, evened the match at one win apiece when he handled Seidel in the second with a 9-6 win. Seidel gave up just one point in the final two games to take the match, 3-1.

The Mids' final win of the night came from St. Louis, Mo., native Justin Langan who took a 3-1 decision over the Diplomats' Ry Hawley. Langan opened the match with a 9-4 win, but much like Hartley and Seidel, he dropped the second match, 9-5. The third match featured an exchange of points and eventually came down to a 10-8 decision in favor of Langan. The fourth match was won my Langan with little effort, 9-3.

The heartbreaker of the night came at the No. 2 position where F&M freshman Gabriel de Melo won a five-game marathon match against the Mids' Allan Lutz (McLean, Va.). Lutz opened the match with a 10-8 win, but de Melo regrouped and took a 2-1 lead after charging Lutz with back-to-back 9-2 losses. Fighting back, Lutz knotted the match at two wins apiece with a 9-5 victory in the fourth. de Melo, however, would not be denied as he took the fifth and deciding match, 9-2, en route to the win.

The Mids will have just over a week to prepare for the Feb. 20-22 College Squash Association Team Championship which will be held at Princeton. Navy will head into the tournament as 13th-ranked program.

Franklin & Marshall 5, Navy 4 • Feb. 11, 2009 • Annapolis, Md.1   Nils Mattsson (N) def. Nadav Tannen (F&M)         9-0, 9-1, 9-32   Gabriel de Melo (F&M) def. Allan Lutz (N)         8-10, 9-2, 9-2, 5-9, 9-23   Sadiq Madraswala (F&M) def. Ben Mantica (N)       9-2, 9-7, 9-04   Brad Seidel (N) def. Shane Slater (F&M)           10-8, 6-9, 9-0, 9-15   Allen Hartley (N) def. Chris Gagnier (F&M)        9-4, 2-9, 10-9, 9-16   Justin Langan (N) def. Ry Hawley (F&M)            9-4, 5-9, 10-8, 9-37   Zarir Aibara (F&M) def. Christopher Zipf (N)      3-9, 9-6, 9-3, 9-68   Ben Lurio (F&M) def. Tommy McNamara (N)           9-0, 9-6, 9-59   Patrick Pasquariello (F&M) def. Will Pappas (N)   9-3, 5-9, 9-4, 9-0