Men's Tournament Match Recaps

Hamilton 9, Hobart 0

Hamilton opened the 2007 Liberty League men’s tournament with a 9-0 win over Hobart with eight of ten matches decided in straight games. Highlight matches included Sander Doucette’s 9-6, 9-7, 9-8 win over Grant Palermo at three, a 3-1 win by Rick Munschauer over Hobart’s Graham Gardner at seven and Andrew Small’s 3-1 win at nine in which he came back from a 10-8 first game loss to Carl Ranieri to win the next three games. Hamilton is now 1-0 on the season while Hobart is 1-5.

Rochester 8, St. Lawrence 1

Rochester backed up pre-tournament favorite status with an impressive 8-1 victory over two-time defending champion St. Lawrence, showing strength throughout the lineup. Newcomer Edwin Goncharuk of UR and Saint rookie Tyler Stout played a highlight match at five with Goncharuk prevailing 3-2 after trailing 2-1 and Robert McDavid and Alex Lee took 3-1 wins at six and seven. Nick Pearson had the lone Saint win, 3-0 at four while Jim Bristow, Hameed Ahmed and Will Newnham were impressive for the Yellowjackets at one through three.

St. Lawrence 9, Vassar 0

The Saints bounced back from their loss to Rochester with a sweep of Vassar as nine of ten matches were three game sweeps. Anshuman Beri of Vassar won the first game at two against Saint rookie Alex Dodge, but Dodge came back to win 3-1. Ryan McGinley-Stempel of Vassar and Scott Redpath of the Saints had a tight first game, Redpath winning 10-8, and Redpath went on to take the match.

Rochester 8, Hamilton 1

Rochester won its second straight by an 8-1 score, sweeping matches one through four by 3-0 scores. Brett Morrell of Hamilton edged Robert McDavid of Rochester 3-0 at five, but the Yellowjackets swept the rest of the matches to go to 2-0. Jim Bristow at one and Hameed Ahmed at two allowed only two points each in three games in their wins.

Hobart 8, Vassar 1

Hobart picked up its first win of the tournament and second of the year with an 8-1 win over Vassar. Cale Forgues won 3-1 at one, Greg Palermo was a 3-1 winner at three and Kenny O'Connor took a 3-2 decision at eight in extended matches. Anshuman Beri had Vassar's lone win, a 9-7, 10-8, 9-0 win over Craig Chircop.

Rochester 9, Vassar 0

All ten matches went in straight games for the Yellowjackets as they closed in on the league title with a match against Hobart to go. Ahmed allowed only one point in a 3-0 win at two and Robert McDavid and Ori Goldman did the same at six and nine.

St. Lawrence 8, Hobart 1

The Saints and Hamilton will battle it out for second place in the final match of the tournament after the Saints improved to 2-1 for the weekend with their 8-1 win over Hobart. The Saints won eight of ten matches, sweeping one through eight with Carl Ranieri picking up Hobart's point with a 3-1 win over Saint rookie Pete Montesano at nine.

Rochester 9, Hobart 0

The Yellowjackets sat out number one Jim Bristow in their final match, moving everyone up a slot, but still cruised to a 9-0 win over Hobart with all matches decided by 3-0 scores. Ahmed won 9-2, 9-1, 9-1 at one with Newnham taking a 9-2, 9-0,9-4 win at two and Wakabayashi winning 9-0, 9-0, 9-1 at three. Rochester won its first league title with a 4-0 record, with 30 of its total wins coming by 3-0 scores.

St. Lawrence 7, Hamilton 2

The Saints took second with a 7-2 win over Hamilton, winning matches at one through five plus seven and eight. Ben Ross of the Saints and Rick Munschauer of Hamilton played a great match at seven with Ross coming from two down to win 3-2. Mario Magana turned back the Saints; Dan Shafer 3-2 at six after Shafer had rallied from 0-2. Pearson finished the tournament with a 4-0 record for the Saints.