WENHAM, Mass.—Gordon Men's Tennis sent shockwaves across the Commonwealth Coast Conference landscape with a 5-4 win over preseason favorite and defending regular season champion Roger Williams. The Fighting Scots dropped two of three doubles matches, including a heartbreaker at the third flight. However, Gordon rebounded by taking four of the first five singles matches decided to take the upset win on its own turf.
Gordon played at the Brigham Tennis Courts for the first time in over three weeks, but that did not slow down the Scots from taking their ninth consecutive victory. The Scots improve to 13-2 on the season and become the last CCC team without a loss at 4-0.
Roger Williams falls to 10-3 overall and 4-1 in the conference after leading the CCC since the opening week.
Gordon jumped out to the early lead with
Zach Hall (Sugar Land, Texas) and
Mason Casady (Santa Barbara, Calif.) cruising to an 8-1 win at the top flight. Roger Williams got the point right back with an 8-3 win at second dubs by Fred Clifford (Duxbury, Mass.) and Grant Rosenberg (Melville, N.Y.).
The Fighting Scots looked ready to jump up 2-1 with a three-game lead at third doubles, but Nick Spoor (Ballston Spa, N.Y.) and Andrew Amarone (No. Haven, Conn.) mounted a furious comeback by taking the final five games in a 9-7 win.
Gordon tied the match when Casady slipped by Clifford at second singles with a 6-3, 6-3 win. However, the Hawks countered back at six as Amarone stayed unbeaten on the afternoon with a 6-4, 6-1 win.
Hall brought the match back to even at three points apiece with a gritty second set to beat Eric Laboissonniere (Cumberland, R.I.) in straight sets.
Nathan Lookwhy (Westborough, Mass.) pushed Gordon within a point of match victory by overcoming a second-set loss to down Rosenberg 6-0, 2-6, 6-1.
Peter Godwin (Manchester, Conn.) became the man of the match by grinding out Spoor at the fifth spot, 6-4, 6-3.
Jonah Schwartz registered the final point of the day after the match had already been decided.
Gordon defeated the Hawks for the first time in Coach Peter Amadon's nine-year tenure at the top of the program. This is also the deepest into the season the Fighting Scots have been atop the conference standings in over a decade.
The Fighting Scots have another stiff test on Monday with a re-scheduled match against Endicott. The Gulls have had similar success against the Fighting Scots in recent memory and are currently a game behind their local rivals at 3-1 in the CCC.
Roger Williams will take on Endicott the next day on Tuesday up in Beverly at 3:30 p.m.
Gordon honored seniors Hall and
Joe Daugherty (Norfolk, Va.) on Saturday morning before the match.