MARION, Ind. — The fickle finger of fate found the Goshen College men's tennis team on the wrong side of a 5-4 decision to Indiana Wesleyan University on Thursday night at IWU's Sutter Tennis Center.
In a meeting of teams that have played in the conference tournament for three straight years, the Wildcats entered as the lone unbeaten team in Crossroads League play. Goshen was one of two teams with a single loss, joining second-place Marian, meaning that a Maple Leaf win would have set the stage for a three-way tie at the top of the conference standings.
The two teams split the first two matches off the court as IWU won 8-1 at no. 3 doubles while Danny Boussom and Martim Cafe responded with an 8-4 win at the alpha position. Indiana Wesleyan (11-0, 9-0) claimed the final two games after a 7-7 split at no. 2 to take a 2-1 lead into singles competition.
Unsurprisingly for a close match, the teams also split the first sets in singles action, with the Maple Leafs taking early leads at the first, second and fifth positions.
IWU took its first two points with straight set wins in the first pair of matches off the courts, straight-set wins at no. 4 and no. 6, but Goshen responded with its most decisive win of the day as Josh Friesen dropped five games in a 6-1, 6-4 win at the no. 5 match. A 6-1 race through the third set gave Boussom a win at no. 1 singles to close Goshen back within 4-3 overall, needing to win both matches on the court to spring the upset.
At no. 3 singles, Cafe had dropped his first set and reached 5-all in the second; the comeback was not to be, however, as Grant Esposito broke serve and held on for the 7-5 second-set win to clinch the overall victory.
With the team match decided, Ciudad and Diego Friere went to a 10-point tiebreak to decide their no. 2 singles match: the Wildcat junior started by taking nine of the first 11 points, but Ciudad finished off the comeback win with nine points in a row for the 11-9 victory.
The win gave Indiana Wesleyan its second straight conference title, while Goshen fell into third place, one game behind Marian, with a single match remaining on the league slate for each team.
Quoting Goshen director of tennis Evan Atkinson:
"Our men have been looking forward to this match since it was rescheduled earlier in the month. We wanted our shot at the champs and we had good energy throughout the night. Doubles was tightly contested and we had a chance to come out with a 2-1 lead. Unfortunately, IWU is a team that will capitalize on missed opportunities and they made us pay for it.
"Even after falling behind 2-1, we felt confident going into singles play. Josh got us on the board by beating a perpetual Leaf killer in Tyler Abbott. I was proud of Danny playing a solid 3rd set against one of the top performers in conference and getting the win. Juan was down 9-2 in his super tiebreak before winning 9 straight points to complete his match. Really strong performances all around. Martim and his opponent might have had the match of the night and looked like heavyweight boxers slugging it out. Evan and Kart fell short but are confident they can get a better result in the future.
"There was a ton of respect shown for both sides tonight and great competitiveness. We're disappointed in the outcome but know we can compete at the highest level. IWU was the stronger team tonight, but we're hungry to get another chance at them in the conference tourney."
Results:
Singles:
1. Danny Boussom (GC) def. Eli Steiner 7-6, 1-6, 6-1
2. Juan Miguel Ciudad (GC) def. Diego Friere 7-5, 4-6, (11-9)
3. Grant Esposito (IWU) def. Martim Cafe 6-4, 7-5
4. Riley Worland (IWU) def. Kartikeya Sharma 6-2, 6-3
5. Josh Friesen (GC) def. Tyler Abbott 6-1, 6-4
6. Andrew Block (IWU) def. Evan Beck 6-2, 7-5
Doubles:
1. Boussom/Cafe (GC) def. Steiner/Grant Yager 8-4
2. Friere/Worland (IWU) def. Ciudad/Sharma 9-7
3. Abbott/Esposito (IWU) def. Friesen/Luke Rush 8-1
Up Next: Saturday, Sept. 29 — Saint Francis at Goshen, 11 a.m.; Roosevelt at Goshen, 5 p.m.
