By Tom Terzulli
Squash had a productive weekend at the Johns Hopkins Round Robin. Ram Archives
Fordham Squash rolled into the Johns Hopkins Round Robin undermanned at the second, third and fourth positions with four matches on tap, and head coach Bryan Patterson knew this would be a tough test. “The team knew that they had to have a great attitude, mental toughness and improved skills to do well,” he said. However, an inspired effort from the Rams was able to overcome this deficiency and Fordham was able to take three out of four in Baltimore.
The first match back on American soil was a 6-3 victory over Lehigh on Friday night. A couple of straight sets made it 2-0 Fordham right off of the bat. Senior Kinkade Webster rolled past Gordon Newell, and senior Jeremy Keller trounced Max Liu. It was the third and fourth position, along with Keller in the No. 2 spot, that produced the most interesting matchups, with each of the Rams in uncharted territory and playing in a much higher position than what they were used to. Junior Jimmy Shinnick did not fare well in the new pressure position, falling in straight sets to Ovie Ojeri. The transition was more successful for sophomore John Lennon, but it was still difficult. It took a grueling five-set battle for Lennon to topple Lehigh’s Nick Bancroft. A 3-1 lead turned to a 4-1 lead when junior Sahil Bahri topped Dan Levy in a straight set sweep. Senior Matthew Crowe could not clinch the match for Fordham, falling in a five-set marathon to Jeff Schwartz. It did not matter though, as senior James Potts and freshman Robert Levi carried Fordham to victory with a pair of straight set triumphs over Jack Littlefield and Huy Hoang.
The Rams could not celebrate the victory for long as they were up bright and early for a date with the Penn State Nitty Lions. There was no sign of lethargic play for the Rams, and they jumped out to a 3-0 advantage. Webster was once again in top form in the first position in his win over Zahair Khan. Keller and Shinnick had to work just a bit harder to succeed, with four sets for Keller and five sets for Shinnick. Jesper Carona and Josh Pau were the victims.
According to Patterson, the trip to London is what helped his team in these long matches. “They played players way better than they are, they were put under pressure and were made to rally patiently to get any points,” he said.
Playing in the fourth position, Lennon fell to Ahmed Bahrain, but he took it to five sets. However, the Rams stormed back and rattled off four victories to lead Fordham to a 7-2 triumph. Winners were Bahri, Crowe, Potts and Levis.
The Rams were riding high. They were 2-0 in the tournament and winning match after match in convincing style. Then they ran into the brick wall known as the Denision Big Red. On a day that Fordham dominated its adversaries, the shoe was on the other foot in this 7-2 defeat. Denison capitalized on a slow Fordham start and took the first four matches. There were some bright spots on the Fordham side however. Keller took Sherief Shahi to four sets in a loss. Bahri and Potts picked up the two victories for Fordham. It took five sets for Bahri to top Drew Levine. Potts remained undefeated in the tournament with a sweep of Luke Friedman. Levis also did not make it easy in the eighth position, taking Big Red’s Darimas Somaniwalla to four sets.
Fordham finished strong on Sunday outlasting the Miami Hurricanes in a heated 5-4 victory. Webster and Keller got back to their winning ways at Nos. 1 and 2. Webster got past Ahmad Almasoud, and Keller swept Micnaei Raghunandan. The “U” surged back with three victories to secure a 3-2 lead. Shinnick, Lennon and Bahri lost, but they did not go down easy, as they all went to five sets. The Rams responded to the three victories with three of their own. Crowe, Potts, and Levis were all on the winning side.
The star of the weekend was James Potts, the only Fordham player to go undefeated. “He played some of his best squash since joining the team,” said coach Patterson.
Kincade Webster and Jeremy Keller also came up big in the crucial one and two positions, taking three out of four matches. Patterson emphasized how invaluable these two are.
The Rams improved to 8-5 on the successful weekend. NYU and Bucknell are up next on Saturday in the Bronx.
