HANOVER, N.H. — The seventh-ranked Dartmouth squash team (2-0) muscled its way past 10th-ranked Navy (11-1) on Saturday afternoon, delivering the Mids' their first loss of the year in dominating fashion by an 8-1 score.

"Dartmouth was a well-rounded team and outplayed us on just about every court today," said first-year Navy head coach Tyler Osborne. "There are a number of lessons to be learned if we want to compete with this next tier of teams and that's what we will focus on in the coming weeks. All in all, it was a good way to start the season."

The Mids spent much of Friday traveling to Vermont where the 20th-ranked Middlebury Panthers gave Navy everything it could handle. The three-plus-hour match that began in the early evening saw the Mids pull out a hard-fought 5-4 victory to extend their winning streak to 11 in a row, but allowed little time for rest and recovery in preparation to face one of the nation's top programs just over 12 hours later.

Junior Michael Kacergis (Malvern, Pa.) captured the Mids' lone victory against Dartmouth, scoring a 3-2 win over senior Sam Epley at the No. 3 position. Though Kacergis won the first game, 11-4, Epley would take the lead by winning the next two games. Kacergis evened the match with an 11-7 victory in the fourth and edged Epley, 12-10, in the fifth to keep his unbeaten mark intact with an 11-0 mark this season.

"Credit it to Mike for grinding out another win to keep his season perfect," added Osborne. "He has amazing fight."

Navy's bookends, No. 1 Jack Lentz (So, Philadelphia, Pa.) and No. 9 Ben Korn (Fr, Stevenson, Md.), forced their foes to four games, but both suffered their first blemish of the season, as the two are now 10-1 on the year. Also dropping a four-game decision was senior Jamie Kjorlien (Greenwich, Conn.).

The Midshipmen will step away from competition to focus on final exams and enjoy the holiday break for the next few weeks, returning to the courts on Jan. 16 when they face No. 9 George Washington in Washington D.C.


#7 Dartmouth def #10 Navy, 8-1
1 | Carson Spahr (D) def Jack Lentz (N), 12-10, 11-3, 6-11, 11-5
2 | Matt Giegerich (D) def Owen Davis (N), 11-6, 11-4, 11-7
3 | Michael Kacergis (N) def. Sam Epley (D), 11-4, 8-11, 7-11, 11-7, 12-10
4 | Brandon De Otaduy (D) def Senen Ubina (N), 11-3, 11-8, 11-2
5 | Max Finkelstein (D) def. Dylan Sweeney (N), 11-2, 11-4, 11-9
6 | Reg Anderson (D) def. Jamie Kjorlien (N), 15-13, 11-2, 8-11, 11-6
7 | Tucker Martino (D) def. Ryan York (N), 11-9, 11-6, 11-5
8 | James Bell (D) def. Danny Finnegan (N), 11-6, 11-4, 11-7
9 | Jack Bell (D) def Ben Korn (N), 12-10, 8-11, 11-8, 11-7

### Go Navy ###