Feb. 13, 2010

Complete Results

LANCASTER, Pa. -- The 14th-ranked Navy squash team saw its five-match winning streak come to a halt Saturday afternoon when No. 12 Franklin & Marshall dealt the Mids a 6-3 blow in Navy's regular-season finale. It's the eighth time in the last nine matches played on the Diplomats' home courts that Navy has lost.

"It was a disappointing loss today against Franklin & Marshall," said 10th-year head coach Craig Dawson. "It certainly was clear that we had the opportunity to win several matches and were unable to come through. I'm hoping we are able to correct the mistakes we made today and bounce back next weekend at the College Squash Association Team Championship."

The Mids were shut out in the upper half of the ladder as Navy's No. 1 player Nils Mattsson (Spring House, Pa.), ranked 29th nationally, was swept by Franklin & Marshall sophomore Gabriel de Melo, 11-5, 11-7, 13-11. Meanwhile, junior Allan Lutz (McLean, Va.) had his 11-match winning streak snapped when the younger de Melo, freshman Guillherme, cruised to an 11-6, 11-6, 11-2 win.

The Mids finally got a win on the board when junior Brad Seidel (Toledo, Ohio) turned back F&M's Zarir Aibara at the No. 5 slot. The win gave Seidel his 20th victory of the year, marking two straight seasons in which he's topped the 20-win mark.

Navy rookies Hunter Bouchard (Greenville, Del.) and John Richey (West Hartford, Conn.) bounced their respective opponents to capture their team-high 24th victories of the season. Bouchard overcame a 13-11 loss in the opening game to win a four-game match against Chris Gagnier in one of the most exciting matches of the day. Bouchard won games two and four, 12-10. Meanwhile, Richey also fell behind with a game one loss to Fred Struse at No. 9, but bounced back to win the next three and tally the win for the Mids.

Senior Ben Mantica (Binghamton, N.Y.) and newcomer David Koenig (Cincinnati, Ohio) both succumbed to their foes in five-game decisions. Mantica fought off a 2-1 deficit to knot the match up by winning the fourth game against Sadiq Madraswala, 11-6. But Madraswala would not be denied as he captured a dramatic 11-9 win to take the match. Meanwhile, Koenig took a 2-1 lead in his match against Ben Lurio after taking games two and three, but Lurio endured the lapse in momentum to take games four and five, 11-8 and 11-8.

The Mids will be back in action next Friday when they kick off action at the three-day CSA Team Championship played at Yale.

Feb. 13, 2010 • Franklin & Marshall 6, Navy 31.    Gabriel de Melo (F&M) def. Nils Mattsson (N)     11-5, 11-7, 13-112.    Guillherme de Melo (F&M) def. Allan Lutz (N)     11-6, 11-6, 11-23.    Sadiq Madraswala (F&M) def. Ben Mantica (N)      4-11, 11-6, 11-4, 6-11, 11-94.    Juan Diego Lopez (F&M) def. Justin Langan (N)    11-6, 11-5, 11-75.    Brad Seidel (N) def. Zarir Aibara (F&M)          11-5, 11-8, 11-96.    Pat Cunningham (F&M) def. Billy Abrams (N)       6-11, 12-10, 13-11, 11-87.    Hunter Bouchard (N) def. Chris Gagnier (F&M)     11-13, 12-10, 11-6, 12-108.    Ben Lurio (F&M) def. David Koenig (N)            11-3, 5-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-89.    John Richey (N) def. Fred Struse (F&M)           6-11, 11-4, 11-2, 11-8