19th-ranked University of Rochester men's squash wrapped up its home-opening weekend with an 8-1 loss at the hands of No. 13 MIT on Sunday at the Lyman Squash Center.
 
Dhirren Rajarathinan earned the Yellowjackets' lone win of the match, topping Ethan Chan at the No. 2 spot on the ladder, 11-2, 11-8, 3-11, 11-8.
 
But the Engineers took the first four matches of the afternoon contest before Rajarathinan's win at No. 2, and then clinched the victory with a win at the No. 7 spot.
 
Mitav Nayak got things started for MIT with a 3-0 (11-0, 11-3, 11-0) win over Sam Knoll at the No. 9 spot, while John Gunton topped Arjith Mathew at No. 3, 11-6, 11-5, 11-7, to make it 2-0.
 
MIT's next win came at the No. 8 spot on the ladder, where Eddie Xue topped Karim Moataz in straight sets, 11-5, 11-7, 11-5, while Thomas Valderrama pushed Isaac Torchinsky-Field to five games at the No. 6 spot but fell, 3-2 (5-11, 11-3, 17-15, 11-13, 7-11).
 
Rajarathinam's victory at No. 2 made it 4-1 Engineers, and got the Yellowjackets on the board, but Rishabh Sharma clinched the win for MIT with an 11-6, 11-8, 11-6 win over Preston Wu at the No. 7 spot.
 
The two sides would then wind things down with the final three matches of the day, all won by MIT. Mero Elmarassy topped Kareem Azzam at No. 4, 11-4, 11-6, 11-5, while Philip Hyun Su Price edged Gilberto Aceves Moreno at No. 1 in four games, 10-12, 11-9, 12-10, 11-4.
 
Zachary Starr then wrapped things up for the Engineers, topping Van Inman-Benavente in five games, 11-3, 9-11, 11-3, 12-14, 11-7.
 
With the win, the 19th-ranked Engineers remain unbeaten at 5-0 on the year, while the 'Jackets drop to 1-3.
 
Rochester will be back in action on Friday, Dec. 5, when they host Chatham University inside the Lyman Squash Center at 5:00 p.m.