“We were really focused on Yale because we knew that, although they were a different sort of team from Princeton, they were also very strong,” co-captain David Barry said.

Only three Crimson players—sophomore James Bullock, the team’s new No. 1 player, No. 4 Barry, and freshman Michael Blumberg at No. 5—came away with wins in front of an estimated 400 Yale fans.

While Bullock and Blumberg each swept their matches, with Blumberg preserving his undefeated mark, Barry’s was much more hotly contested. He jumped out to an 8-6 lead in the first game, but then hit a couple of poor shots, allowing his opponent to get back into and eventually take the game.

Chris Olsen, Yale’s No. 5, then seized the momentum he had built at the end of the first game to win the second.

“He played well, but I was really allowing him to play well,” Barry said. “I was making too many mistakes and he was running me all over the court.”

To make matters worse, Barry had begun to develop cramps. Confident in his fitness, though, Barry knew if he was struggling, his opponent had to be, too.

“You know you’re in pain, but you know everything you do to him makes it that much worse for him,” Barry said.

Indeed, Barry drew on all his will and desire to take the next three games and the match.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough for Harvard. Junior Dylan Patterson dropped a grueling 3-2 match at No. 2 to Yale captain Peter Grote.

At No. 6, junior Thomas Storch couldn’t quite keep up the pace set by his opponent and dropped a match-up of contrasting styles, 3-0.

Behind Storch, freshman Asher Hochberg fought the flu to take the third game from his opponent after dropping the first two, but it wasn’t enough as he eventually succumbed in four games at No. 7.

The Crimson, though, were not devastated by the final outcome.

“We were unhappy that we lost, but we weren’t necessarily unhappy at how we performed,” Barry said. “A loss is not that bad if you compete well, and I think we did.”

Now, Harvard has little time to recoup, as it hosts the NISRA Team Championships beginning today.

With the loss, the Crimson enter the tournament seeded fourth, behind No. 1 Trinity, Ivy League champion Princeton, and the Elis. Harvard’s first-round match-up will be a rematch of a contest held last month, when the Crimson crushed 8-1Williams despite the absence of sophomore Ziggy Whitman.

With a win over Williams, Harvard would most likely earn another chance to knock off the juggernaut Bantams, who face Brown on Friday and who dealt a convincing 8-1 defeat to the Crimson only three weeks ago.

With nothing to lose playing on their home court, the Harvard men are hoping they might just be able to surprise a few people.