“Our goal is to go 2-2 this weekend,”captain Paul Monaghan said before last weekend’s matches kicked off. One of the matches was canceled, but with three opponents to face at home, the squash team still had a chance to meet its intended victory quota. The team instead won one match and lost two.
Northeastern was the first competitor, and it was too much for Fordham to handle. The worst moment of a disappointing event was when junior Ross Garlick went down with an injury in his second game. The No. 6 seed left the court in pain and forfeited his match after rolling his ankle.
On the court, where the number ones were playing, sophomore Kincade Webster practiced burying shots into the corner while he waited for his opponent to bandage his wounded elbow. Webster and Northeastern’s TJ Dyer alternated wins for the first four games with Fordham winning the second and fourth games. Webster could not resist the pattern and fell to Dyer in a closely contested fifth and final game.
Fordham lost the first match 9-0, unable to oppose Northeastern’s power shots.
The Rams did not fare much better in the nightcap. Fordham dropped eight of its nine matches against NYU. With only seven players available, Fordham lost two matches by default. Sophomore Jeremy Keller gained the sole win for Fordham. Playing in the two position, he disposed of NYU’s Yale Kim in three straight games.
On Sunday, the story was much different. Fordham pounded Vassar College and won 8-1. The Rams’ only loss came from senior Ray Chen, playing for the injured Garlick. Chen played well, but his opponent defeated him with a large margin of error.
Monaghan had great speed on his serves and rallies. Almost simultaneously, the third, fifth and ninth seeds swept their opponents. Monaghan, freshman Jimmy Shinnick and sophomore Matt Crowe respectively defeated their Vassar counterparts. Shinnick had to win a long rally to complete the victory.
Numerous Fordham players had to battle back from deficits. Sophomore James Potts lost his first game and was down again in game two. Suddenly, Potts turned it around and won the match in four games. Game two of the set went from 6-2 in Vassar’s favor to an 11-7 Fordham win.
Next weekend, Fordham will be in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. for the Hudson Valley Championships.
