NEW YORK - The Columbia men's squash team put up a good fight against Navy, but the No. 15 Midshipmen claimed an 8-1 victory over the Lions on Friday, January 21.  The match was the first home varsity match for the team who slips to 5-2, while Navy improves to 17-4.  Senior captain Clayton Dahlman picked up the lone win for Columbia in a thrilling 3-2 victory at the No. 2 spot.

Despite dropping the match 8-1, the score can be deceiving as Columbia fought hard with a very talented Navy team.  The matches at No. 1 and No. 2 were five-game battles including long rallies for each point. 

Dahlman played his heart out at the No. 2 spot, picking up the lone Columbia victory in a 3-2 match against Bill Abrams.  The senior fell behind 2-0 after losing 10-12 and 4-11 games.  He kept his composure and came back to win the next two by two points each, 13-11 and 11-9 to knot the match at 2-2.  Dahlman went on to dominate game five 11-2 and picked up the hard earned 3-2 win at No. 2.

His teammate Miao also battled in a five-game match, but came up just short.  Miao too fell behind 2-0 early in the match after losing the first two games 5-11 and 7-11 to Allan Lutz, but came back to take the next two games 11-9 and 11-6.  With a huge crowd cheering on both teams in the final match of the night, it was Lutz who took game five 11-5 to capture the win at the top spot.

Despite losing 3-1 at No. 3, Tony Zou was right there with his opponent Hunter Bouchard. Zou won the first game 13-11, but Bouchard responded with a 13-11 win for himself in the second game. Bouchard went ahead 2-1 after winning the third game 11-5, but Zou continued to fight hard in the fourth game as the two players traded points back and forth.  Bouchard ultimately edged Zou 11-9 in game four for a 3-1 win.

Moving up to the No. 4 slot, Theo Buchsbaum picked up his first loss of the season, falling to Hunter Beck 8-11, 7-11, and 6-11. His classmate Andrew Tan put up another good fight at No. 5 against John Richey.  After dropping the first match 7-11, Tan won 11-9 in game two to even the match at 1-1.  Tan and Beck battled hard for every point with long rallies, trading points throughout.  Beck took game three 14-12 and game four 11-8 to win 3-1 over Tan.

First-years Alex Goldberg fell in three straight games to Tommy McNamara, 7-11, 7-11, 9-11 at No. 6, and Martin Goman lost 6-11, 9-11, 6-11 at No. 7 to Aidan Crofton. Dan Gentile, Marvin So, and Anchit Nayar also lost in three games each.

Columbia (5-2) returns to action on Saturday, January 29 when it faces Vassar, Northeastern and Bard in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

Navy 8, Columbia 1
1.  Allan Lutz (Navy) def. Graham Miao, 3-2 (11-5, 11-7, 9-11, 6-11, 11-5)
2.  Clayton Dahlman (Columbia) def. Billy Abrams, 3-2 (12-10, 11-4, 11-13, 9-11, 2-11)
3.  Hunter Bouchard (Navy) def. Tony Zou, 3-1 (13-11, 11-13, 11-5, 11-9)
4.  Hunter Beck (Navy) def. Theo Buchsbaum, 3-0 (11-8, 11-7, 11-6)
5.  John Richey (Navy) def. Andrew Tan, 3-1 (11-7, 9-11, 14-12, 11-8)
6.  Tommy McNamara (Navy) def. Alec Goldberg, 3-0 (11-7, 11-7, 11-9)
7.  Aidan Crofton (Navy) def. Martin Goman, 3-0 (11-6, 11-9, 11-6)
8.  David Koenig (Navy) def. Dan Gentile, 3-0 (11-7, 11-7, 11-4)
9.  Clayton Young (Navy) def. Marvin So, 3-0 (11-4, 11-4, 11-2)
10.  John Tracy (Navy) def. Anchit Nayar, 3-0 (11-2, 11-7, 12-10)