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Navy To Face Army In Tennis Title Tilt
Links associated with this release: HAMILTON, N.Y. -- For the seventh-straight season, the finals of the Patriot League Tennis Championship will feature match between Army and Navy. Navy advanced to Sunday's final in Hamilton, N.Y., with victories on Saturday over Holy Cross and Colgate, while Army advanced by virtue of its win over Bucknell. Navy had a tough semifinals match against tournament-host Colgate. The Red Raiders, seeded third in the tournament, began the match by winning the doubles point from the second-seeded Midshipmen with wins at Nos. 1 and 2 doubles. "We had a number of break-point opportunities in the doubles matches, but were unable to cash any of them in," said Navy head coach John Officer. Navy quickly rebounded by taking a 2-1 lead with victories at Nos. 1 and 2 singles. Ben Salomon (Sr., Rochester Hills, Mich.) dropped the first set at No. 1 singles to Eric Saccullo, 6-4, but won the match by taking the second and third sets, 6-3, 6-3. Cameron Lickle (So., Weston, Mass.), who defeated Evan Paushter, 7-6, 7-5, when the two teams met two weeks ago, handled Paushter at No. 2 singles, 6-3, 6-1. After Heath Marshall (So., Palm Coast, Fla.) lost at No. 4 singles to tie the score at 2-2, the Mids responded with wins at Nos. 3 and 5 singles to secure a berth in the finals. In their first meeting of the season, Navy's Chris McGrath (So., Media, Pa.) defeated Josh Cohn, 7-5 in the third set. Saturday, McGrath defeated Cohn in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2. Freshman Ryan Osgood (Leawood, Kan.) closed out the Red Raiders for Navy with a 6-4, 6-1, win over Jon Bedard at No. 5 singles. Osgood broke Bedard to tie the first set at 3-3, then, after holding serve, broke Bedard again to go up 5-3. "I am proud of how we played today," said Officer. "We showed a lot of character after losing in the doubles matches. We have struggled this season when we did not win the doubles point, but today we relaxed and responded to the challenge." Navy posted a 4-0 victory over Holy Cross in Saturday morning's quarterfinals, while top-seeded Army had a first-round bye. The Black Knights advanced to Sunday's final with a 4-0 win over Bucknell in the semifinals. Navy and Army have met in the finals each year since 1995. After the Black Knights won the initial match, Navy reeled off four-straight wins from 1996-99. Army defeated Navy in last year's final in West Point, 4-2. This season, Army defeated Navy, 5-2, in the lone-regular season meeting between the two schools, April 1 in West Point. "We are excited to be back in the finals and to have another shot at Army," said Officer. #2 Navy 4 #7 Holy Cross 0 - Quarterfinals Singles No. 1 Ben Salomon (NA) def. Gerry Benedicto (HC) 6-4, 6-4 No. 2 Chris McGrath (NA) def. Tim Carey (HC) 6-3, 6-0 No. 3 Heath Marshall (NA) def. Kenton Allen (HC) 6-1, 6-3 No. 4 Ryan Osgood (NA) vs. Michael Corey (HC) 6-2, 4-0 Did Not Finish No. 5 Jim Shaughnessy (NA) vs. Rich Roberts (HC) Did Not Play No. 6 Mark Wadsworth (NA) vs. Mike Sullivan (HC) Did Not Play Doubles No. 1 Salomon/Shaughnessy (NA) def. Benedicto/Allen (HC) 8-2 No. 2 Cameron Lickle/McGrath (NA) def. Carey/Justin Blair (HC) 8-2 No. 3 Marshall/Osgood (NA) vs. Roberts/Sullivan (HC) Did Not Play #2 Navy 4 def. #3 Colgate 2 - Semifinals Singles No. 1 Ben Salomon (NA) def. Eric Saccullo (CU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 No. 2 Cameron Lickle (NA) def. Evan Paushter (CU) 6-3, 6-1 No. 3 Chris McGrath (NA) def. Josh Cohn (CU) 6-4, 6-2 No. 4 Andrew Davis (CU) def. Heath Marshall (NA) 6-4, 6-2 No. 5 Ryan Osgood (NA) def. Jon Bedard (CU) 6-4, 6-1 No. 6 Jim Shaughnessy (NA) vs. JP Johnson (CU) 4-3 Did Not Finish Doubles No. 1 Saccullo/Paushter (CU) def. Salomon/Shaughnessy (NA) 8-6 No. 2 Davis/Bedard (CU) def. Lickle/McGrath (NA) 8-6 No. 3 Marshall/Osgood (NA) vs. Cohn/Owen Fileti 6-5 Did Not Finish
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