The sixth-seeded/#18 Middlebury men's squash team put together a furious comeback bid in Saturday's NESCAC Quarterfinal against third-seeded/#13 Tufts but came up just short. The Jumbos won the final match in five games and edged the Panthers by a 5-4 score. 
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• Utilizing a five-court system, Tufts opened the match with a sweep at #2 and a four-game win at #7.
• The Panthers pulled to within one (2-1) when Caleb Boateng earned an 11-2, 11-8, 9-11, 11-5 victory in the third slot.
• The Jumbos regained their two-point edge with a 3-0 win atop the ladder.
• Middlebury answered when Kian Kardestuncer outlasted his opponent in a match that took nearly an hour and a half to complete (6-11, 13-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-8).
• The Panthers evened the contest (3-3) with a three-game triumph at #9 from Charlie Clifford (11-9, 11-8, 11-8).
• Tufts grabbed a 4-3 advantage with a sweep in the eighth slot.
• Theo Kogan leveled the contest at 4-4 with a come-from-behind victory in the fourth spot. Trailing 2-1, Kogan slipped past his opponent in the fourth and the fifth games (3-11, 13-11, 4-11, 12-10, 11-7) to earn the point.
• The deciding match occurred at #6 between Middlebury's PK Keller and Jared Chin for the Jumbos. Chin claimed the opening game 11-4, before Keller responded with an 11-7 win in the second. The third game was tightly contested with neither player owning more than a three-point edge. Knotted at 11-11, Chin won the last two points for a 13-11 decision. Down 5-4 in the fourth game, Keller rattled off seven-straight points to earn the 11-5 triumph and force a winner-take-all fifth game. The Panther claimed the first three points, but Chin answered winning 10 of the 12 points to pick up the 11-4, 7-11, 13-11, 5-11, 11-6 victory for the final 5-4 score.

NOTES

• The triumph by Kogan was his 10th this season and the 20th of his career.
• Will Quigley earned a victory in the exhibition match. He won the first and fourth games before his opponent was forced to retire before the fifth game (11-9, 5-11, 4-11, 11-4, ret.).
• The teams played for the second time this season, and the 12th overall, with Middlebury holding a 7-5 edge. 
• The programs squared off for the third time in the NESCAC Quarterfinal round.
• The tournament is being hosted by Amherst in the Davenport Squash Courts.

Tufts moves on to face the winner of a quarterfinal match between second-seeded Williams and seventh-seeded Bowdoin in the semifinals. The Panthers will wait to learn their fate in the College Squash Association (CSA) Team Championships when the field is announced in the coming days.