Men’s Squash Falls to Trinity in National Championship Match

Harvard men’s squash (10-5, 4-2 Ivy) traveled down to Philadelphia for the College Squash Association’s National Team Championship. The men’s teams competed for the Potter Cup, the most prestigious team trophy in collegiate squash. Harvard already boasts thirty-three Potter Cup victories, the most of any program in history, far outpacing the Trinity Bantams (19-0), who are second all-time with eighteen Potter Cups.

First, the Crimson beat its Ancient Eight enemies, Columbia and Pennsylvania, in two heated quarterfinal and semifinal battles, respectively. In the Championship Match, the Crimson was pitted against the Bantams to see who could add this year’s trophy to their renowned display cases.

The national tournament this weekend was filled with Ivy League rivalries, as every Ancient Eight school with a varsity program was present in the twelve-team bracket.

Quarterfinal: Harvard 6, Columbia 3

Harvard enjoyed a first-round bye thanks to its high national ranking, so it was paired against the No. 6 Columbia Lions (7-6, 3-3) for its first match of the tournament.

Harvard had handily beaten the Lions on Jan. 27. That being said, this weekend, the Crimson was down its number eight man, sophomore Segev Rom, due to injury. Because of this, the Harvard’s typical number nine, junior Ishant Shah, was bumped up to number eight on the ladder, and junior Marcus Lee was called in to play in one of his first matches of the season. Even with the new lineup, the Crimson was heavily favored.

Columbia drew first blood, winning the nines match. Junior All-American Omar Azzam was quick to respond, winning his match 3-1.

The number five man, freshman Maddox Moxham, was the final player of the first wave. At first, it appeared as if the rookie would fall to the Lions. Moxham’s foe went up 2-0 and was mere points away from exiting the first wave with a major underdog victory. Moxham refused to falter, though. He scraped his first game together with a scrappy 11-7 victory. Then, the Darien, Conn., native pulled off an extra point win 14-12, barely keeping the lion at bay. Finally, he tamed him with an 11-8 victory, sealing the first wave 2-1 for the Crimson.

Harvard and Columbia swapped wins in the next four matches, moving the point total to 4-3. Although the Crimson technically still had a lead, the Lions were never supposed to be this competitve, and the crowd knew it.

The next match featured Harvard captain David Costales, who has been a rock for the Crimson all season long, both on and off the court. Costales notched his first game with a tight 12-10 win, but was dealing with rough shin splints. His discomfort and pain on the court were evident. Wincing, the senior dropped the second and was unable to recover on the third. The momentum shifted in the arena as Columbia realized it was closing in on the upset.

Costales had other plans, though. The captain slowly dug himself out of the hole. He battled into extra points and secured an amazing 13-11 comeback victory in the fourth game. Finally, he continued to fight through the pain for a decisive fifth game victory and the clinching point for his team.

After the match, senior Denis Gilevskiy and Azzam, Harvard’s one and three, respectively, were recognized as All-Americans.

Semifinals: Harvard 5, Penn 3

The semifinal match marked Harvard’s third contest against the Quakers (15-3, 5-1) in the last month. At the end of the regular season, the Crimson lost 3-6 in a scrappy, emotional contest. In the Ivy League tournament, Harvard again fell in a 4-5 nailbiter. Now, the team was seeded against its rivals once again, and it needed a win not just for a shot at the Potter Cup, but also for revenge on collegiate squash’s biggest stage.

Penn was the returning back-to-back national champion and the tournament favorite. The Crimson knew it had the talent to compete with the Quakers, and needed just one more match to overcome Penn.

The Quakers’ success continued into the first wave, where it won the first two matches in successive 1-3 victories.

Freshman Alexander Broadbridge responded with a 3-0 sweep to bring the Crimson within spitting distance. The first wave ended 2-1, leaving the Harvard crowd with a feeling that felt all too familiar at this point in the season.

Freshman Christian Capella, the Ivy League Rookie of the Year, took the court next in the four position. The Harvard rookie was pitted against his long-time rival, Alex Dartnell. The pair had faced each other head-to-head twice this season. Dartnell had won both those meetings. The Quaker came out hot again this match, easily taking the first two games in 11-6 and 11-3 victories. Capella obviously was invested in this rivalry and flipped the script, winning the third game 11-3. Then, the Crimson freshman won the fourth 11-3. The energy was palpable as the two came together for their fifth game. The points went back and forth, but Capella sealed the comeback with an 11-8 victory.

To seal off the second wave, the two rivals swapped wins, leaving the score tied at 3-3 going into the final wave.

In the third wave, Moxham lost his first game, but refused to relent, winning the next three and putting the Crimson just one match away from revenge.

Azzam was the next up. The junior lost his first game in extra point, but he did not miss a beat as he recentered and narrowly won the second. The third and fourth followed without much resistance. The win marked an achievement in mental toughness for Azzam, who lost a physical and controversial match against the Quakers in the Ivy League Championships.

The Crimson had beaten Penn for the first time this season and advanced to the Championship match.

National Championship: Trinity 5, Harvard 3

In the National Championship Match, the two winningest teams in the history of the CSA faced off against each other. Trinity was seeded first in this tournament and had held that rank most of the year, beating Harvard 2-7 earlier in the season.

To start, the number ones from the programs faced off. Both All-Americans, Harvard featured Gilevskiy as its prize fighter, and the Bantams showed off senior Joachim Chuah, who had recently won the Skillman Award, the highest honor for a graduating senior in collegiate squash. Gilevskiy outpaced Chuah in the first game, winning 7-11. However, Chuah was quick to respond. With rapid movements and quick hands, Chuah won the next three games, giving the Bantams an early lead.

The Crimson quickly responded as junior Jacob Lin earned a strong 3-1 victory in the seventh position.

Capella was up next, taking on Trinity’s sophomore All-American, Low Wa Sern. Yet again, Capella went down 0-2 early. Sern initially seemed faster and more agile than Capella. The Harvard freshmen had fitness and impeccable placement on his side, however, and as the match progressed to later games, Sern tired much faster than Capella. The man in crimson took the third game in an 11-6 victory, and then the fourth 11-5. Finally, as the rookies’ fitness proved to be the difference, he won the final set 11-3.

The underdog Crimson exited the first wave up 2-1.

The Bantams started the second wave with a pair of victories.

Moxham fought back for his last game, spurring Harvard to a hard-fought 3-1 victory. Again, the Crimson headed into the final wave with the score deadlocked at 3-3.

In the final minutes of play, Trinity proved itself as the better team, winning the last two matches 3-0 and 3-1, respectively.

With these anticlimactic victories, the Bantams crowned themselves Potter Cup Champions for the 18th time in program history.

Harvard ended its season second in the Ivy League Tournament and second in the CSA National Team Tournament. The Tournament marked the last time that key players like Gilevskiy and Costales — whose leadership and dominance on the court will be missed — donned the Crimson uniforms. That being said, the team will consist mostly of returners for the 2027 season, so the future is bright for Harvard men’s squash.

— Staff writer Jake C. Swanson can be reached at [email protected].