HARTFORD, Conn. — The No. 9 Columbia men's squash team pulled out a dramatic, 5-4, victory over No. 12 Western Ontario on Saturday in the semifinals for the Hoehn Cup at CSA Men's Team Nationals. The championships are being held at Trinity's Kellner Squash Center.
 
The top seed in the Hoehn Cup Draw, Columbia was taken to the wire by the fourth-seeded Mustangs. With the match tied, 4-4, all eyes were on the No. 3 battle between Adam Goad and Elliott Hunt. Hunt took a hard-fought first game, 15-13, before Goad bounced back with a convincing, 11-3, decision in game two. It was all Goad from there, winning out, 11-4, 11-2 to send the Lions to the Championship Final.
 
Columbia got out to a 2-1 lead thanks to victories by Franklyn Smith (5) and Jacob Bulbulia (7). Smith battled through five games to defeat Taylor Carrick, 11-9, 2-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-9, while Bulbulia improved to 8-6 with his seventh straight dual-match victory.
 
Western Ontario evened things up at 3-3 in the second wave. The Lions were able to pull out a four-game victory from Zach Nam (4), 5-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-6, but the Mustangs took a pair of five-game matches against Chaitanya Shah (2) and Sameer Saxena (8) to set up an intense finale.
 
Douglas Kosciukiewicz defeated Rutvik Rau (6) in four games and Ryan Chen earned a three-game sweep over Ben Boulanger, 11-9, 11-6, 11-9. That set the stage for the No. 3 match between Goad and Hunt to decide it.
 
Columbia will compete against the winner between sixth-seeded No. 14 Williams College and second-seeded No. 10 Dartmouth in Sunday's final. The match is scheduled for 10 a.m. ET. Fans can watch live on YouTube.
 
For the latest on the Columbia squash programs, be sure to follow the teams on Twitter and Instagram (@CULionsSquash), on Facebook (Facebook.com/ColumbiaSquash), or by visiting GoColumbiaLions.com.