Fordham Squash has ripped off three consecutive wins in a row after an 0–6 start to the year. This past weekend they followed up a win against Boston University to close the Navy Round Robin with a commanding victory over the University of California before fending off Washington University in St. Louis by a 5–4 scoreline.

The first was a rare nightcap, with Fordham welcoming the Golden Bears to the Bronx for a 7 p.m. battle. Cal rolled past Fordham 8–1 the last time those two squads faced. However, there was a much different narrative this time around. 

Fordham automatically claimed four points by default due to a shortage of players on the other end. That may render the team score a bit one-sided but Fordham still had to take care of business on the individual front.

In fact, they started with a defeat, as Cal’s Garrett Kitahata defeated senior Patrick Rodden in the top spot. However, the Rams won three of the next four matches from there, spearheaded by sophomore Henry Frawley and seniors Dylan Panichello and Winthrop Reed.

Fordham had a bit more competition on Saturday morning against Washington University in St. Louis. The Rams had handily defeated the Bears in their two meetings two seasons ago, first an 8–1 victory at home followed by a resounding 9–0 triumph in the opening round of the College Squash Association Championship.

Washington was up for the task on Saturday, though, as Fordham narrowly slipped by them at a 5–4 mark. Rodden again fell at the top spot, dropping a narrow first set 17–15 to ultimately make the difference. Frawley continued his winning ways at the second spot with a straight set romp of Johnny Lu but Washington snatched back another point courtesy of Ryan Wiersbitzky. Reed downed Connor Browder to even up the score.

Then Fordham received key contributions from a pair of players who did not factor in against Cal, with victories from junior Justin George and sophomore Nicholas Choo at the five and six holes, respectively. Despite junior Caleb Schumacher and freshman Aarav Jhunjhunwala dropping the final two matches, Panichello sealed the deal in four sets at the seventh spot to secure the win for Fordham.

After overcoming the COVID-19 rust to start the season, Fordham and head coach Sahel Anwar seem to be finding their footing with this weekend’s results. Now, they will look to carry that momentum into two more home matches against New York University and Swarthmore College on Dec. 4 before receiving a month hiatus as the season kicks into high gear in late January.