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Mids Post 2-1 Record in New York Squash Swing
Feb. 2, 2008 ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The 13th-ranked Navy squash team played three matches in three different towns in two days, producing a 2-1 record that featured wins over 29th-ranked Hobart (8-1) and No. 35 Colgate (9-0). The Mids improve to 14-7 with just one week remaining in the regular season. Navy opened the weekend of busy action with a 6-3 loss to seventh-ranked Rochester Friday evening. All three of Navy's wins were five-game marathon matches at the bottom half of the lineup. Second-year standout Ben Mantica (Binghamton, N.Y.) dropped the opening game and third game at No. 6 before posting a 9-3 game four win and forcing the match into a deciding game. Mantica earned a 9-6 win in the fifth to defeat Rochester's Edwin Goncharuk, 3-2. Meanwhile junior Allen Hartley (Charleston, W.Va.) found himself trailing 2-0 in the match, but won the final three games, 9-4, 9-7, 9-3 to take the win over Robert McDavid at No. 8. Finally, senior Matt Wiggins (Sour Lake, Texas) won the first of three matches this weekend when he beat Ori Goldman, 9-6, 4-9, 9-6, 1-9, 9-4. Despite pushing the No. 7 match to five games by winning the third and four games, senior Brian Hamilton (Lake Forest, Ill.) fell in defeat to Alexander Lee in the fifth, 9-2. "My hat's off to Rochester," said Navy head coach Craig Dawson. "They've assembled a pretty strong team. I was very pleased with some of the matches at the bottom of our lineup where guys really gutted out wins." Navy regrouped on Saturday, winning both matches, giving up just one individual match on the day. The Mids opened up Saturday's action with an 8-1 victory over No. 29 Hobart. The Statesmen's Nadav Tannen tripped up Navy sophomore Nils Mattsson (Spring House, Pa.), 3-1, in what would be Hobart's only win of the day. The Mids claimed 3-0 sweeps in the remaining eight matches. Navy closed out the weekend with a 9-0 win over No. 35 Colgate, winning all nine matches in three games. Sophomore Teddy George (West Hartford, Conn.) saw his first action among the ladder's top nine since mid-November. He dispatched the Raiders' Nick Hajem, 9-0, 9-4, 9-0 at the No. 9 slot.
Mantica, Hartley and Wiggins each turned in 3-0 records over the weekend, while team captain Jeff Sawin (Haverford, Pa.), rookie Allan Lutz (McLean, Va.), junior Michael Beautyman Jr (Plymouth Meeting, Pa.), Christopher Zipf (Gladwyne, Pa.) and Hamilton posted 2-1 marks. Navy will play its final regular-season match next Saturday when it battles Franklin & Marshall in a neutral site match held in Baltimore.
Navy 8, Hobart 1 Feb. 2, 2008 Geneva, N.Y. 1 Nadav Tannen (H) def. Nils Mattsson (N) 3-1 9-6, 6-9, 9-4, 9-4 2 Jeff Sawin (N) def. Cale Forgues (H) 3-0 9-4, 9-1, 9-3 3 Allan Lutz (N) def. Luke Esselen (H) 3-0 9-2, 9-1, 9-3 4 Michael Beautyman Jr (N) def. Craig Chircop (H) 3-0 9-7, 9-0, 9-6 5 Christopher Zipf (N) def. Alex Khaddar (H) 3-0 9-1, 9-4, 9-6 6 Ben Mantica (N) def. Peter Hansen (H) 3-0 9-1, 9-2, 9-0 7 Brian Hamilton (N) def. Edward Lanphier (H) 3-0 9-6, 9-0, 9-5 8 Allen Hartley (N) def. Kenny O'Connor (H) 3-0 9-3, 9-0, 9-2 9 Matt Wiggins (N) def. Carl Ranieri (H) 3-0 9-5, 9-3, 9-3 |