PHILADELPHIA – The University of Rochester squash team fended off a feisty squad from Massachusetts Institute of Technology 7-2 on Friday afternoon, advancing to the semifinals of the College Squash Association Hoehn Cup Tournament at the Penn Squash Center.
 
Rochester, ranked #10 in the CSA, moves to 7-7 on the season, while #15 MIT drops to 8-9. The Yellowjackets, the second seed in the Hoehn Cup (B Division) will play third seeded Western University of Ontario in the semifinals at 11:30 am on Saturday. MIT plays Williams in the consolation bracket.
 
The Yellowjackets trailed in the early going, as MIT's Keith Lamp defeated Emilio Carrillo at #7 for the matches opening point. Lamp won in four games, 11-7, 2-11, 11-9 and 11-4.
 
UR responded with wins at #3 and #5 to grab the lead after the first wave of matches. Abdelrahman Lasheen dispatched Tom Hogan 11-8, 16-14 and 11-5 at #3, while Omar Zakaria needed four games to make the score 2-1 Rochester. Zakaria won at #5 over William Wu by a 9-11, 11-8, 11-6 and 11-4 score.
 
First-year Yash Fadte posted the quickest win of the day at #2, winning 3-0 over Joe O'Connor (11-3, 11-5, 11-4), making the score 3-1 in favor of the Yellowjackets.
 
MIT cut the lead back to one with a win from #8 Matt McManus over UR's Alejandro Porras. McManus won 3-0, defeating Porras 11-6, 13-11 and 11-8.
 
A hard fought match between Jake Koeppel and Nikhil Kakarla at #6 closed out the second wave. Koeppel emerged victorious by an 11-8, 17-19, 11-5 and 11-6 score, moving the Yellowjackets within one point of the overall match.
 
Rochester posted three wins, two by 3-0 scores in the final wave to reach the end score of 7-2. Senior Cesar Segundo secured the match clinching point with a 3-0 win at the #1 position over Aman Sanger. Segundo won 13-11, 11-7 and 11-8.
 
At #9, Quinlan Jeudy earned a sweep of Robert Williamson in an evenly matched affair. Jeudy posted set scores of 11-9, 11-8 and 11-8 in his win.
 
In closing out the match, Luis Moncada and Eli Kramer battled it out at #4, needing five games to decide a winner. Kramer took the first and third games 11-7 and 11-2, while Moncada earned wins in sets three and five, both by 11-8 scores. In the tie breaking fifth game, Moncada earned an 11-5 win to secure the point.
 
After the victory, UR is now 8-9 against the Engineers all-time. The last meeting prior to Friday also took place at the CSA Championships, coming back in 2005 when the two played in the Conroy Cup (D Divison) quarterfinals, a match that also went in favor of UR by a 7-2 score.
 
In the other half of the Hoehn Cup bracket, top seeded Cornell and fourth seeded Dartmouth also advanced, setting up matchups between the top four teams in the semifinals.