The 17th-ranked Middlebury men's squash team closed its regular season with a 7-2 loss to #19 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on Friday from the Bostwick Family Squash Center. Prior to the match, the squad honored seniors Alexis Ballo, Nathan Feinstein, Will Lichstein and Julian Sandoval.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The Engineers took a quick 3-1 advantage by tallying victories at #3, #6 and #9, respectively. Middlebury's victory in the opening four matches came from Charlie Clifford, who rallied from a 12-10 setback in the opening game to secure three-straight triumphs (11-8, 11-5, 11-8) in the seventh slot against Collin Wen.
• MIT clinched the match with a 3-1 triumph at #2 and a five-game thriller at #4.
• In the eighth position, Aditya Kothari tallied a 3-0 sweep (11-9, 11-4, 12-10) of Lars Barkman for the Panthers' second point of the contest.
• Caleb Boateng and Robert Albani closed the match with the longest battle of the evening at #5 with the players splitting the first four games. After an hour and 11 minutes, Albani claimed an 11-9 triumph in the decisive game for the 7-2 final score.

NOTES

• Clifford has earned a victory in seven of the last 11 matches.
• Middlebury and MIT met for the 10th time.

With their regular season complete, the Panthers turn their attention to the College Squash Association (CSA) Team Championships. The draws for the event will be released early next week.