CANTON, N.Y. – The streak continues for the University of Rochester as the Yellowjackets claimed their seventh straight Liberty League Men's Squash Championship, defeating host St. Lawrence University 6-3 at the Robie Squash Center on Sunday afternoon.
After trailing 3-2 through five matches, top-seeded Rochester closed out the match strongly, posting wins in all four of the remaining matches to earn the team victory. This year's title is the Yellowjackets' 13th Liberty League crown in program history.
Sunday's contest was back-and-forth throughout, with only one match ending in a 3-0 sweep, that being the first match of the contest at nine. In that match, St. Lawrence's Dmitry Stepanenko topped Rochester's Sam Knoll 11-2, 11-0, and 11-8.
The next matches were at seven, six, and one, with the Yellowjackets taking the opening games in two of the three. The tides then turned as the Saints took the next few games. Rochester rebounded when Van Inman-Benavente rallied for a four-game win at seven against Athrva Yadav. After falling 11-4 in the opening game, Inman-Benavente secured 11-9, 11-3, and 11-3 wins for the 4-1 individual win to level the team score.
At six, Karim Moataz fell behind 2-1 against Harrison Callaway, but secured 11-9 wins in both the fourth and fifth games (3-2 individual win) to earn a clutch point for the Yellowjackets.
The match at one started in favor of Rochester’s Gilberto Aceves Moreno, who posted an 11-2 win in the first game before the Saints' Mina Yousef rattled off three straight (11-7, 14-12, 14-16) for a 3-1 individual victory, knotting the team score at two-all.
St. Lawrence edged in front, 3-2, when Patrick Walford topped Kareem Azzam in four games at the four position, winning 4-1 (6-11, 11-6, 13-11, 11-7).
The remaining matches (No. 5, No. 8, No. 2, No. 3) went in favor of Rochester. The Yellowjacket comeback started with first-year Arjith Mathew earning an 11-5, 11-3, 3-11, and 11-8 win over Alexander Scott at five.
Sophomore Preston Wu kept the momentum going for Rochester at eight with his win against Gavin Cassidy. Wu dropped the opening game 11-7, but came back strong with three straight wins, 11-3, 11-4, and 11-3, to earn the team's go-ahead point.
Junior Dhirren Rajarathinam earned the championship-clinching victory at number two. He won the first two games (11-4, 11-4) against Miguel Posada Villa, but stumbled in the third, falling 11-7 before settling back in for an 11-6 win to wrap up the 3-1 individual victory.
Closing things out was Thomas Valderrama at number three with a four-game win over Emirhan Sen (8-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-6).