Metropolitan Squash Racquets Association

At 3:00 p.m. on this cold Sunday afternoon, the Princeton University squash team made the short trip up to New York's University Club to take on Team MSRA in a dual team match.

Having just finished a week of exams, the Princeton team is still making up for lost sleep and lack of training time. The match against Team MSRA served, in part, to jump start their preparations for the upcoming 6-week crucible when they will be taking on perennial rivals Yale, Harvard, and Trinity before the year-end CSA Intercollegiate Team and Individual Championships. Team MSRA captain Charles Goodwin fielded a team of University Club members, Princeton alums, and MSRA members who would give the defending Ivy League Champions a sincere test.

Round 1 (#s 3, 6, 9, 12)

After introductions by Charles Goodwin and Princeton Coach Bob Callahan, players and spectators arrayed themselves behind the 4 glassback courts to cheer on the competitors for Round 1 of the 3-round match. Princeton came out quickly. In the #3 match, Michael Gilman took 2 quick games from the mercurial Akhil Behl. Behl fought back, taking the third game, but could not raise his game to the level of Gilman's – a member of 2003's US Junior World team. At #12, Tim Callahan surged to a quick lead and fought off Ross Hallock to win 3-1. The #9 match had the MSRA winning 3-0 as Alec Decker replaced USSRA Hall of Famer Ned Edwards and defeated Brendon Bascom.

The epic match of the first round was between Princeton #6 Will Boothby and the MSRA's Rob Endelman. They both fought excruciatingly long points on the warm #2 court, with neither player seemingly able to find a way to bring points to conclusion. They split the first two games and the result seemed up for grabs. Over the proceeding 3 games, Boothby used accuracy and a command of the ‘T' to pull out a 3-2 victory in front of a crowd of appreciative onlookers. Princeton was up 3 matches to 1.

Round 2 (#s 2, 5, 8, 11)

The second round was a marathon. Rob Siverd quickly won a 3-0 contest against Chris LaPorte, but every other match of Round 2 would go to the limit. At #8, Joe Lubin overcame growing fatigue to pull out the victory against Parker Sutton. MSRA Captain Charles Goodwin enacted a reprise of the Endelman/Boothby match in his win against Dent Wilkens, playing long developing points. Wilkens appeared at times to hold the ‘T' and command play with impunity, only to have Goodwin make continuous athletic gets to push points to their limit. Goodwin, once having gained position, was able to stretch Wilkens and took the match in the 5th .

The #2 match was an extraordinary contrast in styles. Jeff Stanley, the 4-year #1 who led Princeton to a 6-man team championship and achieved two individual collegiate championships, played an attacking, hard-hitting game against the freshman from Hong Kong, Vincent Yu who played an attritional movement and length game. Stanley dominated early play with nicks, Philadelphia Boasts, and precise length for winners. Yu gamely stuck to his game plan, hoping that the blizzard of winners and unconventional play would give way if he could broach Stanley's fitness. The second and third games bore out the wisdom of Yu's strategy, as he maintained a commanding position and made Stanley stretch for every ball, preventing the winners and nicks which had characterized the first game. The fourth game saw the battle of the two strategies at its full, with each point being commanded either by the powerful Stanley or the precise Yu. Power prevailed as Stanley managed to push the match to a final stanza. The effort of the th game, combined with the previous 3 and an earlier doubles match seemed to sap Stanley's energy. Despite some exceptional points, the 5th game went to Yu, who played his gameplan through to the end. Princeton took a 5 matches to 3 lead.

Round 3 (#s 1, 4, 7, 10)

Despite not counting towards their CSA record, the Princeton Team cheered their fellow teammates on lustily, looking for a victory. As both teams realized that the match was going to be close, spectators and competitors who had finished gathered around the remaining courts to urge them on.

At #10, Will Osnato had too much for Kip Gould (who had also competed in a doubles tournament earlier in the day), taking the match 3-1. Reversing that MSRA setback was #7 Ben Elias, a former Rochester standout, who used attacking shots to prevent Preston Comey from capitalizing on Elias' less than optimal fitness (which he complained about vocally throughout the match), as Elias took the match 3 games to 1. The #4 match between Ryan O'Connell and Nate Beck was a beautiful display of all-court squash. O'Connell used his Trinity College and PSA experience to move Beck around the court and finish points, while Beck retrieved and countered effectively, but seemed not to know how to put O'Connell into discomfort. O'Connell completed a 3-1 victory for Team MSRA.

The evening of exciting squash was capped off by an exceptional match between two Egyptians, Yasser El Halaby for Princeton and Karim Yehia for the MSRA. Yehia is the current world #81, and moving up in the rankings, while El Halaby is in his Sophmore year after winning the Intercollegiate Individual Championships in 2003.

The first game was an exceptional display of El Halaby's dynamic game. The first 5 points had Yehia playing a paced, measured game plan, seemingly trying to settle into points. El Halaby took every opening to pound cross-court volley winners early in the rallies. Yehia seemed surprised to find himself down 5-2. Renewing his effort, Yehia managed numerous hand-outs, but never managed to bring the score back to even, as El Halaby retrieved everything, and took advantage of every open shot to put Yehia under pressure. El Halaby took the first game 9-4.

Throughout most of the second game, El Halaby dominated the ‘T,' executing volley drops to move Yehia out of position for deep winners. Yehia managed a couple of frugal leads at 2-1 and 5-3, only to see it dissipate under the attack by El Halaby. In contrast to the first game, with its short points and outright winners from Princeton's #1, the second game's points were longer, and developed gradually, as compared to the lightning quick winners of El Halaby in the first game. In the long run, this played to Yahia's strenth, but in this one game, it displayed El Halaby's ability to play an exceptional full-court style of play, with length for pressure and a brilliant attacking game and movement to the front court. The second game went to El Halaby 9-6.

The third game was over almost before it started. Yehia came out firing exceptional length and displayed an ability to produce winners from his short game that had been missing previously, producing a lopsided 9-1 game score. It appeared that El Halaby was taking a break, leaving the showdown for the fourth game.

The fourth game progressed in the same manner as the brilliant second had, with long points and every shot contested. As the game developed, it became apparent that the advantage El Halaby had enjoyed early in the match with his ability to retrieve and hit winners had been reversed by Yehia's seemingly inexhaustible fitness. Near the end of the game, El Halaby gestured towards Karim Yehia's Gatorate on the floor at the back of the court, while glancing at Princeton Coach Bob Callahan – indicating his need for some sugar. It appeared as if Yehia's long points and conditioning were paying off, as he closed out the game 9-6, and grasped the momentum going into the fifth and deciding game.

Nothing appeared to have changed from the end of the fourth game as El Halaby managed just 3 hand-outs while Yehia cruised to an 8-0 lead and match ball. El Halaby looked tired and out of energy. From one moment to the next, however, El Halaby changed tactics and the tenor of the game. Accepting every opportunity to attack, Yehia was once again on the defensive as he was in the opening rallies of the first game. El Halaby managed cross-court nicks and length for winners after moving Yehia out of position. Yehia gained another match ball at 8-3, which El Halaby quickly took as he progressed in a comeback remeniscent of last year's Princeton – Yale dual team match when El Halaby came back from down 2-0 in games and 8-3 (matchball) to Julian Illingworth to take the match and give Princeton the Ivy League Championships. It was not to be this night. El Halaby's comeback stalled at 5-8, and after two handouts, Yehia finished the match with a winning forehand length.

MSRA and Princeton both Win

In the final tally, the overall match score was 6-6. In the top 9, the MSRA won 6-3 (or 5-4 as Alec Decker played out of position filling in for Ned Edwards). Tallying the game scores, Princeton edged out the victory with the narrowest of margins: 26 games to 25.

Both Team MSRA and Princeton agreed to reprise the match next year. All participants found the combination of sportsmanlike competition and social interaction very much to their taste. Participants and spectators alike were grateful for the effort Coach Bob Callahan of Princeton, Jeff Stanley of the University Club and Team MSRA captain Charles Goodwin put in towards bringing this event about.

Results