Feb 22
NEU vs. Fordham University (45): 7-1 WIN
Feb 23
NEU vs. New York University (41): 4-5 Loss
Feb 24
NEU vs. Northwestern University (44): 7-2 WIN
The Men’s Collegiate Nationals was also held at Yale University this year, one week after the Women’s competition. The men entered into the F division, fighting for the Serues Cup (41st place, nationally). Having already beaten three of the teams in their bracket this season (Swarthmore: 9-0, Bryant: 8-1, Fordham: 8-1) and coming very close with a fourth (Lehigh: 4-5), the Huskies were very confident coming into the weekend’s competition. Top-seeded NYU was in Northeastern’s sights throughout the weekend as it would most undoubtedly be their toughest match should the two teams face each other.
The first match against Fordham University started off on a strange note as CSA rules disqualified our #9 player due to confusion in our submitted lineups. Fordham did not have a ninth either though, so a best-of-eight match was played. The Huskies made very short work of Fordham as they had earlier in the season, taking a convincing 7-1 victory. Only four matches went past three games, with the Huskies taking two four gamers and one five-game match at #2. The only loss came at #7 in a very close match where Daniel Hsu was up 2-1 but couldn’t close it out. #4 Baxter Wathen, #1 DJ Brinkworth, #6 Phil Huntley, and #8 Joakim Karlsson all had masterful 3-0 victories, invigorating the team for the next day’s match.
Saturday’s match brought the Huskies against top-seeded NYU after their equally convincing shutout of USC. The match at Yale opened up with play at #9, #6, and #3. #9 senior Daniel Hsu played an opponent in great form and went down in three. #3 sophomore Greg Berson was pushed to five games by a solid competitor, but pulled out his match in the end. #6 freshamn Louie Sitwell started strong and went up 2-0 against his opponent in convincing games. Louie’s opponent was not ready to give up however, and came back on court firing in the third and fourth games to take it to five. The last game went to overtime points, with two matchballs for the Huskies. After over an hour of play, NYU ultimately took the win 15-13 to go up 2-1 in the dual match. The next set of matches was played by a sick #8 Alex Scott-Barrett who went down in three, freshman #5 Baxter Wathen who took his match in four great games, and #2 co-captain Stan Berenshtein who, after going down 1-2, came back to win in five to keep the dual-match even at 3-3.#7 senior Phil Huntley played a very competitive first two games, going down 7-11 and then 10-12. Phil came back to take the third, but ultimately went down in four games. #4 senior co-captain Keith Sproat was pushed by his opponent to two overtime periods, but closed his match out in three games. The match came down to #1 senior DJ Brinkworth who was matched against a formidable 4.5 player. DJ played a series of great rallies to stay tight throughout the first and second games, but went down 6-11 and 7-11. Playing for the match and a spot in the finals, DJ gave it his all, heading into overtime and earning a gameball, but eventually went down 11-13, ending the match at a disappointing 4-5 loss in what was the closest match Northeastern played all season. A lack of playing experience and ability to close cost the Huskies dearly in this match, but that can only improve in future seasons as the roster matures.
Northeastern’s last match was the 43/44 playoff against program rivals Northwestern University. Northeastern beat Northwestern 5-4 at the 2011 Nationals in the consolation semis and looked to continue their winning record this year. Sophomore Alex Scott-Barrett dropped from the lineup due to health concerns. All four seniors on the team took the win for the last matches of their respective careers – #8 Daniel Hsu (5 games), #7 Phil Huntley (4 games), #4 co-captain Keith Sproat (3 games), and #1 DJ Brinkworth (4 games).#5 freshman Baxter Wathen and #3 sophomore Greg Berson both won in three while #2 co-captain Stan Berenshtein won his match in five. The only losses for the Huskies came at #9 with George Ughetta withdrawing in the fifth due to injury and at #6 with Louie Sitwell fighting through an obviously painful knee injury to take his opponent to five games. The final score was 7-2 for the Huskies, earning them the #43 spot in the country.
The Huskies will miss their four seniors next year but look to the return of junior Max Kachur and junior T.J. Dyer, among the group of new recruits.
Stay tuned for offseason info including off-season matches, new players, an alumni match and other program developments. Thanks for following us during our season and we hope to have your continued support as our program continues to grow.
Sincerely,
Husky Squash
GO HUSKIES!
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