By Tony Miller
Sports Information Director
SPRING ARBOR, Mich. — Aritha Weerasinghe won twice and the Goshen College men's tennis team overcame an early doubles deficit with five singles wins to stay alive in the Crossroads League tournament with a 6-3 win over Spring Arbor University in quarterfinal action Tuesday at SAU.
The Cougars (6-4, 6-3), who had won the teams' regular-season match 5-4 behind a doubles sweep, took two of the three positions on Tuesday. No match was closer than two breaks of serve, although Goshen's lone win (Weerasinghe and Eric Zuercher at no. 3) matched the most lopsided of the day at 8-3.
"I was a little worried when we didn't put our best foot forward in doubles," said Goshen director of tennis Evan Atkinson. "Spring Arbor set the tone with aggressive play and really handed it to us. We knew that meant we had to play our best in singles and thankfully we pulled through."
The Maple Leafs (7-5, 5-4) pulled through in a big way, taking the first set in five of six singles matches: in four cases, the margin was either 6-2 or 6-3. Spring Arbor's lone victory came at the top spot, where Goshen served for the set at 5-4, but Nick Romano took GC sophomore Juan Miguel Ciudad into a tiebreak and won 7-5.
"Juan is normally our most reliable player, and surprisingly he played a loose match," Atkinson said. "Romano is a strong opponent and we were happy to give Juan the experience at 1 singles tonight."
GC would claim the first four matches off the courts in straight sets and in quick succession, reversing a 2-1 deficit into a 5-2 lead. Lukas Kanther dropped three games in a win at no. 5, while Evan Beck claimed all six second-set games on the trot one spot lower and Eric Zuercher matched Beck by surrendering four games in the match at no. 2 to clinch the team match. Kartikeya Sharma's 6-3, 6-3 win at the fourth spot also found its way into the picture.
Weerasinghe dropped his second set 6-4; with the team match decided, that position entered a match tiebreaker in lieu of a third set, and Weerasinghe won that 10-8. Romano finished off SAU's lone singles win with a 6-3 second set.
Beck and Zuercher each posted singles wins after losing to Spring Arbor in the regular season, but against different opponents: all three matches that pitted the same foes as the regular-season match 13 days earlier saw the champions defend their titles.
"Taking five of six singles matches is a great confidence-builder and it feels good to avenge our regular-season loss," Atkinson said. "Kart has had shown moments of dominance in his last two matches, Evan has recently found his tennis identity and is playing at a high level, and Lukas played with great energy tonight and finished strong. Eric had renewed motivation tonight and played some of his best, most aggressive tennis of the year."
Goshen will return to the court Thursday in the tournament's semifinal round against Indiana Wesleyan University, marking the third straight year that the Maple Leafs and Wildcats have met in the postseason. In 2015, Goshen won 5-4 in both the regular season and tournament, while Indiana Wesleyan avenged a 5-4 regular-season loss with a 6-3 tournament win last fall. The Wildcats won the 2017 regular-season meeting 8-1 on Sept. 5.
First serve is set for 4 p.m. at IWU's Sutter Tennis Center.
Full Results: Goshen 6, Spring Arbor 3
Singles
1. Nick Romano (SAU) def. Juan Miguel Ciudad 7-6(5), 6-3
2. Eric Zuercher (GC) def. Alex Reinbold 6-2, 6-2
3. Kartikeya Sharma (GC) def. Ryan MacLean 6-3, 6-3
4. Aritha Weerasinghe (GC) def. Jonah Engle 6-2, 4-6, (10-8)
5. Lukas Kanther (GC) def. Connor Mogle 6-2, 6-1
6. Evan Beck (GC) def. Sam Head 6-4, 6-0
Doubles
1. Engle/Romano (SAU) def. Ciudad/Sharma 8-4
2. Maclean/Reinbold (SAU) def. Kanther/Luke Rush 8-3
3. Weerasinghe/Zuercher (GC) def. Thomas Hall/Josh Scott 8-3
