Six-hundred ninety days—that’s how long it’s been since the Harvard women’s squash team (5-0, 3-0 Ivy) last lost a match.

Since their heartbreaking 5-4 loss to Ivy foe Princeton in the 2009 CSA National Championship, the women of the Crimson squad have gone a perfect 17-0.

More impressive, the crew has garnered two-thirds of its victories in 9-0 sweeps.

The most recent win came this Saturday at the Belkin International Squash Courts, where No. 1 Harvard faced No. 7 Cornell (1-3, 0-3). Dropping only four games, the Crimson easily toppled the Big Red, 9-0, in Cornell’s home opener.

“We just wanted to go out there and play well and wrap up the first part of the season before New Year’s,” sophomore Sarah Mumanachit said.

And play well they did.

“The match went very well,” captain Alisha Mashruwala said. “It was probably the best I’ve seen the girls play, and myself, too.”

One of the gutsiest performances of the day was undoubtedly from Nirasha Guruge.

The junior faced Big Red sophomore Jaime Laird in the No. 2 slot—an unexpected matchup, since Laird has played predominantly in the top position since her rookie season.

After dropping the first frame, 11-3, Guruge adjusted her game and was able to come back and quickly capture the next two games, 12-10 and 11-3.

But after Laird nabbed an 11-4 victory in the fourth set, the match was pushed to five games—the first five-game match of the season for Harvard.

The Crimson team’s calm, collected demeanor was quite useful, then, in helping Guruge hang on for the win.

“We were pretty confident going into the match,” Mashruwala said. “The team takes it...one step at a time.”

Guruge kept her cool and snagged an 11-9 fifth-frame triumph.

She and sophomore No. 5 Natasha Kingshott, who claimed a 3-0 victory in the court next door, set the tone for their teammates that followed.