Feb. 21, 2010

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- The 13th-ranked Navy squash team closed out its season Sunday afternoon by defeating 15th-seeded Bowdoin, 6-3, and placing 13th at the College Squash Association Team Championship hosted by Yale University in New Haven, Conn. The Midshipmen ended the year with a 26-8 record, the second-most wins in program history.

Senior Nils Mattsson (Spring House, Pa.) and junior Brad Seidel (Toledo, Ohio) completed action at the CSA Team Championship with each putting together an undefeated 3-0 record. Mattsson, who closed out his career with a 9-3 all-time record at the postseason team tournament, recorded a 6-0 record in his last two seasons. Navy's team captain completed his 2010 sweep by scoring a 3-0 victory over Bowdoin's Palmer Higgins, just as he did in their regular-season meeting. Additionally, Mattsson, who will likely represent Navy at the CSA Individual Championship in two weeks, owns a 91-30 career mark and stands and the lone man during head coach Craig Dawson's 10-year coaching career to eclipse 90 wins at the Academy.

Going into this year's team tournament, Seidel had never won a tournament game. He turned that misfortune around by claiming his third win in three days thanks to a 7-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-9 win over Bowdoin's Arun Makhija. And with that win, he pushed his record to 23-7, matching his win total from a year ago.

Seniors Ben Mantica (Binghamton, N.Y.) and Justin Langan (St. Louis, Mo.) also saw their careers end on a high high note. Both players won two of their three matches at the CSA Team Championship. Mantica overcame a loss in the opening game to defeat Andrew Bernard 8-11, 12-10, 11-8, 11-8. Like Seidel, Mantica matched his win total from last season, posting a 25-7 record and a four-year mark of 89-30.

Langan, meanwhile, defeating Peter Cipriano 9-11, 12-10, 11-5, 11-6 to finish the season with a 24-9 mark. Like Seidel, he lost all three of his CSA team tournament matches a year ago, but redeemed himself in his final season by winning two of the three. He concluded his career with a two-year varsity mark of 48-18.

While Navy will bid goodbye to a group of seniors who have been not only great leaders but also fantastic players, Dawson saw his freshman class succeed this season. In fact, newcomers Hunter Bouchard (Greenville, Del.) and John Richey (West Hartford, Conn.) finished the year with a team-best 26 wins (26-7 record). Bouchard claimed his 26th victory by way of an 11-5, 11-8, 11-8 win over William Fantini of Bowdoin. Meanwhile, after starting the tournament 2-0, Richey suffered his first loss of the postseason with a 3-1 loss to Thai Ha-Ngoc.

The Mids' final win of the day was by rookie Billy Abrams (Wilmington, Del.), who struggled this weekend. Sunday's 3-0 win over Bowdoin's Rahul Madan Mohan was his first of the weekend, as he closed out his first season at Navy with a 16-8 record.

Feb. 21, 2010 • Navy 6, Bowdoin 31.    Nils Mattsson (N) def. Palmer Higgins (B)       13-11, 11-6, 11-42.    David Funk (B) def. Allan Lutz (N)              9-11, 5-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-23.    Ben Mantica (N) def. Andrew Bernard (B)         8-11, 12-10, 11-8, 11-84.    Justin Langan (N) def. Peter Cipriano (B)       9-11, 12-10, 11-5, 11-65.    Brad Seidel (N) def. Arun Makhija (B)           7-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-96.    Billy Abrams (N) def. Rahul Madan Mohan (B)     11-8, 11-8, 11-87.    Hunter Bouchard (N) def. William Fantini (B)    11-5, 11-8, 11-88.    Andrew Hilboldt (B) def. David Koenig (N)       11-5, 9-11, 11-9, 11-89.    Thai Ha-Ngoc (B) def. John Richey (N)           9-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-9