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The Harvard men’s squash team continues to roll, building on a strong start to the season by bowling over three nationally ranked squads in its first matches of 2017.

Beginning the new year with a trip to the Philadelphia metropolitan area, the No. 4 Crimson (4-0, 3-0 Ivy League) faced off against Drexel, Penn, and Princeton. Harvard decisively bested each of its competitors, ranked No. 6, No. 7, and No. 11 in the nation, respectively, to remain undefeated on the season.

“We were very pleased with our performance over the weekend,” co-captain Devin McLaughlin said. “Everyone trained hard over the winter break and came out for the long weekend fit and prepared, both mentally and physically. It's always tough to play away, so getting three wins against some very strong teams was great to see.”

The Crimson’s rookies played crucial roles in its success, as Saadeldin Abouaish, Timothy Brownell, Sean Hughes collectively went 8-1 on the road trip.

“All of the guys did well this weekend and got the job done,” fellow co-captain Bryan Koh said. “The three freshmen handled themselves and their squash extremely well, seeing that it is their first matches of college squash. I am very proud of them and good to see they are fitting in well already.”

HARVARD 8, PRINCETON 1

The Tigers (2-5, 0-2 Ivy) began the season with two 8-1 victories against Franklin & Marshall and George Washington University but entered its Sunday match against the Crimson with a four-game losing streak. Harvard helped to continue that streak, as an 8-1 triumph at the Jadwin Squash courts in Princeton, N.J. proved to be far from difficult.

3-0 Crimson wins proved to be the norm, with seven matches producing the result. Junior Madhav Dhingra’s contest, however, was more of a back-and-forth affair. Neither player won consecutive games, and a narrow 12-10 loss in the fifth set was all that kept Harvard from completing a 9-0 sweep of the Tigers.

HARVARD 8, PENN 1

Looking to avenge its 7-2 loss to the Quakers (3-4, 0-1 Ivy) in last year’s CSA Team Championships, the Crimson did just that on Saturday at the Ringe Squash Courts. During its 8-1 triumph, Harvard’s depth proved too much for its opponents to handle.

Each of the seven matches in the third through the ninth positions was completed in just three games. The Crimson won every single one of those matches conclusively. Dhingra’s match against Penn junior Derek Hsue was the closest of those bouts on paper, but its final result, 11-5,11-9,11-8, was still relatively one-sided.

The matches at the first and second positions both went to five sets with Abouaish triumphing and junior Bradley Smith playing to the opposite result.

“It was a relief to have a decisive victory against Penn after our unfortunate loss at Nationals last year,” McLaughlin said. “Those who were there last year definitely had the sting of that loss in their minds as we were playing, which I think helped carry us to victory.”

HARVARD 7, DREXEL 2