Brunswick Squash Advances to National Final

By defeating Haverford 5-2 in the semifinal, Brunswick will face number-one seeded St. Andrew's on Sunday. It will be Brunswick's first National Final appearance since 2022. The Bruins also faced Choate and Taft on their way to the final.

In the round of 16, Brunswick took down Choate in decisive fashion with seven 3-0 wins. The team wanted to get off to a hot start to the tournament, and certainly left Friday afternoon's match with confidence, although they still felt that their best game was yet to come.

On Saturday morning, the Bruins found themselves in the quarterfinals facing Taft yet again. It was the third matchup with the Rhinos this season, and Brunswick knew that Taft would be ready for redemption after two defeats so far this year. The 'Wick players prepared themselves to stymie those efforts early.

Oliver Velasco and Cole Cline put a dent into Taft's aspirations early on, and with 3-0 victories apiece they quickly put Brunswick up 2-0 at the #3 and #6 positions. Although Will Newman couldn't make any headway in the #1 slot, he was able to keep his opponent on court long enough so that when Johan Hodgson took over after Newman's loss, Jackson Pastel – in his first Nationals appearance as a Bruin – and Henry Raine had already clinched the win for Brunswick.

On Saturday night, 'Wick faced their rival Haverford once again in what was basically a home match for the Fords. Their fans were packing the stands and lining the balcony as Oliver Velasco and Cole Cline took the court for the first matches of the semifinal. Once again, it would be critical for Brunswick to get off to a strong start, and Velasco set the tone by marching to a 3-0 win. The rallies were long and arduous, but Velasco was able to erase deficits in all three games on the way to the first win.

Meanwhile, Cline and his opponent were trading blows in what turned out to be a five game slugfest. Although it wasn't his best performance, by his own admission, the captain gritted out a gutsy win in the fifth game to put the Bruins up 2-0 early. Coaches Walker and Abraham agreed that this early win was crucial to sealing the ultimate victory.

Back on the glass court, Will Newman and Johan Hodgson struggled with their talented Haverford opponents. Despite valiant efforts, it proved too difficult for the #1 and #2 players to overcome both some of the best players in the country and the home court advantage to Haverford.

With the match in the balance, Anden Boulan delivered a much needed win at #7 in three games to put Brunswick within one win of advancing to the National Final. It would be Henry Raine who would put the nail in the coffin for Haverford with a decisive three game win at #4. At this point, Will Newton's come from behind win at #5 was just icing on the cake. It was well past 10 p.m. by the time Newton began to find his game, as he methodically dug himself out of a two-game hole to win in the fifth.

The other semifinal saw St. Andrew's take a much easier road to the final with a 6-1 win over Hotchkiss. When Brunswick faced St. Andrew's earlier this season at the Specter Center, they lost a nail biter 3-4. Since that time, both teams have improved, and their second meeting is sure to be a barnburner.

The squash team will face off against St. Andrews for the Justi Cup at 2:40 p.m. on Sunday afternoon at the Specter Center in Philadelphia.
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Brunswick def. Choate 7-0
Will Newman def. Rodrigo Chon Him 3-0 (11-3, 11-2, 11-4)
Johan Hodgson def. Zachary Starr 3-0 (11-6, 11-7, 11-9)
Oliver Velasco def. Lucas Carlson 3-0 (11-8, 11-2, 11-7)
Henry Raine def. Jacob Price 3-0 (11-6, 11-9, 11-3)
Cole Cline def. Elias Starr 3-0 (11-4, 11-5, 11-7)
Anden Boulan def. Robbie Haik 3-0 (11-1, 11-5, 11-5)
Bennett Klein def. George Wang 3-0 (11-4, 11-7, 11-3)

Brunswick def. Taft 5-2
Will Newman loss to Eyad Awad 0-3 (7-11, 9-11, 9-11)
Johan Hodgson loss to Wei Yan Tho 2-3 (11-13, 11-7, 11-4, 3-11, 7-11)
Oliver Velasco def. Carl-Edmund Roux 3-0 (11-9, 11-5, 11-9)
Henry Raine def. Jayden Oon 3-0 (11-5, 11-7, 11-5)
Will Newton def. Lachlan Abbott 3-0 (11-2, 11-0, 11-7)
Cole Cline def. Henry Revenaugh 3-0 (11-8, 11-5, 11-3)
Jackson Pastel def. Aman Dhiman 3-0 (11-5, 11-3, 11-7)

Brunswick def. Haverford 5-2
Will Newman loss to Andrew Glaser 0-3 (5-11, 6-11, 11-13)
Johan Hodgson loss to Devon Li 1-3 (3-11, 11-7, 9-11, 7-11)
Oliver Velasco def. Aiden Chiang 3-0 (12-10, 11-9, 11-9)
Henry Raine def. Jamie Stait 3-0 (11-5, 11-3, 11-8)
Will Newton def. Graeme Herbert 3-2 (7-11, 5-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-6)
Cole Cline def. Xan Matuch 3-2 (11-6, 8-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-2)
Anden Boulan def. Preston Wu 3-0 (11-5, 11-8, 11-1)