Upset-Minded Mids Come Up Short on Squash Courts

Jan. 13, 2010

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- After kicking off the second half of the 2009-10 season with a sweep over Hamilton Monday evening, the 14th-ranked Navy squash team came up just short of taking down No. 8 Penn Wednesday night at the Halsey Field House International Squash Courts, falling 6-3.

The Quakers field a team with eight nationally-ranked players, including four in the top 50. That said, Navy hung right with Penn down to the wire, with two freshmen coming up with quality wins.

After dropping the opening game of his match against sophomore Akhilesh Nayak, ranked 122nd nationally, rookie Billy Abrams (Wilmington, Del.) evened the No. 6 battle with a 13-11 victory. Abrams went on to win the final two games, 11-6 and 11-5, to improve to 10-4 on the year. Classmate David Koenig (Cincinnati, Ohio) picked up an impressive win at the No. 9 position. Koenig's foe, William Browne, came into the season ranked 88th in the country. Browne took the early lead with an 11-9 win in the first game, however, Koenig bounced back to win the next two, including a 12-10 decision in the third. But Browne came roaring back and knotted the match at two games apiece with a decisive 11-3 victory in the fourth. Koenig, though, calmly played his game and eventually won the match via an 11-6 game five win.

Senior captain Nils Mattsson (Spring House, Pa.), ranked 29th, improved to 10-3 as Navy's No. 1 player, as he dispensed of 33rd-ranked Mark Froot in four games, 11-8, 2-11, 11-6, 11-6.

Rookies Hunter Bouchard (Greenville, Del.) and John Richey (West Hartford, Conn.) proved to be tough foes for their counterparts, pushing Zuhaib Mohiuddin and Brooks Russell to four games, but were unable to pick up the pivotal wins for the Mids.

"Nils (Mattsson), Billy (Abrams) and David (Koenig) put us in an excellent position within the match by earning solid wins," said Navy head coach Craig Dawson. "We came up a little short, but it provides us with a tremendous platform to improve our game as we inch closer to the CSA Team Championship. David's win in particular was really a fantastic win against a strong opponent."

Navy will participate in the three-day Yale Tournament when it travels to New Haven, Conn. this weekend. The Mids open the tournament on Friday when they battle Bowdoin beginning at 5:30 pm. On Saturday, Navy will face MIT at 11:00 am and close out the day's action with an 8:30 pm battle against Connecticut College. The Mids conclude a long week of action on Sunday with a 9:00 am match against Colby.

Jan. 13, 2009 Â• Penn 6, Navy 31.   Nils Mattsson (N) def. Mark Froot (P)            11-8, 2-11, 11-6, 11-62.   Dan Greenberg (P) def. Ben Mantica (N)           11-4, 11-4, 15-133.   Trevor McGuinness (P) def. Justin Langan (N)     12-10, 11-5, 11-44.   James Clark (P) def. Brad Seidel (N)             11-5, 11-5, 11-85.   Porter Drake (P) def. Allan Lutz (N)             11-6, 11-9, 11-96.   Billy Abrams (N) def. Akhilesh Nayak (P)         5-11, 13-11, 11-6, 11-57.   Zuhaib Mohiuddinl (P) def. Hunter Bouchard (N)   9-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-78.   Brooks Russell (P) def. John Richey (N)          11-5, 8-11, 11-3, 11-69.   David Koenig (N) def. William Browne (P)         9-11, 11-4, 12-10, 3-11, 11-6