No. 2 Men’s Squash Rebounds from Loss to No. 1 Trinity with Key Ivy Win Over No. 4 Yale

Harvard men’s squash split a critical stretch of its Ivy League season with a hard-fought road loss to the nation’s top-ranked team before rebounding days later with a statement victory over one of its closest conference rivals. The No. 2 Crimson fell 7-2 to No. 1 Trinity in Hartford, Conn., marking its first defeat of the 2025-26 campaign, but quickly reasserted itself with a resilient 6-3 win over No. 4 Yale at the Murr Center to remain unbeaten in Ivy League play.

The trip to Hartford presented Harvard (7-1, 4-0 Ivy) with its biggest test of the season to date. Entering the match undefeated and ranked second in the country, the Crimson looked to challenge Trinity (9-0) and disrupt the Bantams’ reign atop the rankings.

The opening exchanges were tightly contested. After Trinity claimed the first point at the eighth position, freshman Christian Capella delivered an early response for Harvard at fours. The rookie rebounded from a narrow opening-game tiebreak loss to win three straight games, showcasing the composure that has defined his debut season. Moments later, junior Omar Azzam produced one of the highlights of the day at threes, grinding out a five-game victory that featured two tiebreak wins and briefly pushed Harvard ahead 2-1.

From there, Trinity’s deep roster became apparent. The Bantams strung together wins across the middle and top of the order, reclaiming the lead during the second wave and extending it in the final matches. Despite several competitive contests, Harvard was unable to halt the momentum, ultimately falling 7-2. The loss snapped the Crimson’s perfect season.

Harvard wasted little time. Once back in Cambridge, the Crimson welcomed Yale (5-2, 3-1) and delivered on senior day. After an early sweep from sophomore Segev Rome at eights opened the scoring, the match settled into a tense back-and-forth. Azzam once again proved decisive at threes, rallying from a 2-1 deficit to secure another five-game win and give Harvard a narrow edge after the opening wave.

The Bulldogs responded through the middle of the lineup, and after six matches, the teams were deadlocked at 3-3. With the outcome hanging in the balance, Harvard’s lower players delivered.

Junior Ishant Shah set the tone in the final wave with a dominant straight-games win at nines. Freshman Alexander Broadbridge followed with a comeback performance at sixes, clawing back from two games down to win a dramatic five-game battle and clinch the match.

Senior Denis Gilevskiy sealed the victory moments later at twos, rebounding from a first-game tiebreak loss with two emphatic games to close out a 3-1 win. The 6-3 result not only preserved Harvard’s perfect Ancient Eight record but also secured the Crimson a spot in the Ivy League tournament field.

After one of its most intense weekends of the season, Harvard enters a brief pause in competition before traveling to face Penn and Princeton on Feb. 14-15. Despite its loss to the Bantams, the Crimson remains firmly positioned among the nation’s best programs as it nears postseason play.