The Drexel University men’s squash team traveled to Connecticut to compete in the Hoehn Cup for the team championships Feb. 20-22. The men’s team had matches against Williams College, Princeton University and Cornell University.
The men faced off against the Williams College Ephs for the second time this season. In the previous match, the men earned a 6-3 win. They competed in the same fashion, winning 6-3 again in the first round of the Hoehn Cup.
The Dragons got wins in the one through four, seven and nine spots. Luke Willemse opened for the Dragons and defeated his opponent Jamie Ruggiero in a three-game sweep. Atticus Kelly followed with another win in four games, defeating Kevin Chen in the two spot. Ibrahim Bakir and Michael Thompson continued to get wins for Drexel, both sweeping their opponents in three games.
The Ephs won the next two matches in the five and six spots.
Cillian Dunne battled in a strong five-game effort after losing the first two games of the match, while Mark Kauf and Sebastian Dangond lost 1-3 in four games. Nat Fry earned another win for the Dragons in the seven spot. He defeated Michael Petrick in four games.
Joey Gingold finished the competition for the Dragons, sealing the day with a 3-0 win over Nicholas Greaves-Tunnell.
On the second day of competition, the Dragons took to the courts against the Princeton University Tigers. The men previously faced the Tigers in the regular season and lost that match 6-3. The result was the same Feb. 21 when the Dragons lost 5-4 to the Tigers.
The Dragons got off to a rough start with Willemse and Kelly dropping their matches in three-game sweeps. Thompson, Kauf and Dangond were also bested by their Princeton opponents.
Bakir was able to defeat his opponent Jarryd Osborne in four games in the three spot. Dunne and Gingold were also able to secure wins for Drexel in four games in the five and nine spots, respectively.
Fry accounted for the Dragons’ fourth win, securing a victory in five games after beating Tiger Abhimanyu Shah in the seven spot.
On the final day of the Hoehn Cup, the Dragons fell to the Cornell University Big Red 6-3. The two teams had previously competed in the regular season when the Big Red beat the Dragons 7-2.
Drexel got wins from Kelly, Fry and Gingold in the two, seven and nine spots, respectively. Kelly defeated Cornell’s Seb Obieta-Chichizola in four games. Fry defeated his opponent in a three-game sweep, and Gingold battled in five games to beat Abhijit Malik. This was Gingold’s third straight win.
Bakir and Dunne lost in four games to their Cornell counterparts. Willemse, Kauf and Dangond were swept in the one, six and eight spots, respectively. Thompson was able to force a fifth game after dropping the first two but could not secure a victory against Big Red’s Jordan Brail.
The Drexel men and women return to action at the Individual Championships Feb. 28 to March 1 in Princeton, New Jersey.