A trip to Cambridge, Mass., left Northwestern seeing Crimson as Harvard handed the Wildcats their second loss of the season Sunday, 5-2.

After five home matches, the Cats (4-2) looked to prolong their success with a win in their first road match.

Harvard (1-0) saw things differently.

The Crimson swept the doubles matches, to take a 1-0 lead and a great deal of momentum heading into singles.

“We were a little flat in doubles,” coach Paul Torricelli said. “We just couldn’t break through anywhere.”

The team of Chuck Perrin and Christian Tempke almost secured a doubles win for the Cats in the last match, getting within one point of victory on several occasions. But their opponents rallied back and won in a tiebreak, 9-8.

“[Harvard] had clinched the doubles point, but it would have given us momentum,” Torricelli said.

The Cats rebounded in the singles matches, winning two and taking two others to tiebreakers.

Willy Lock trailed 6-0, 4-0, but won seven of the next eight games to take the second set, 7-5. He eventually lost in an abbreviated third set, in which the first player to record 10 points won.

Despite these challenges, Harvard remained in control throughout.

“We didn’t feel like we gave our best effort,” Torricelli said.

Adam Schaechterle and Matt Christian provided the Cats’ two wins, each extending his singles winning streak to three matches.

After losing his first three singles matches, Christian changed his shoe size, racket grip size and cut his hair, although he does not believe these factors explain the turnaround in his play.

“They’re pretty much superstitions,” he said. “I really just pulled my head out of my ass.”

The Cats were the Crimson’s first dual match opponent of the year. The only indication NU could get on the strength of Harvard’s team came from their performance at an individual tournament in Florida.

But the results were nowhere to be found.

“Ivy League sports information and Big Ten sports information operate on two separate levels,” Torricelli said.

Harvard beat NU 7-0 last year but graduated some of their top players. The Cats’ starting lineup remained intact.

After gaining some first-hand experience, the Cats felt they should have come back to Evanston with a win.

“It was real disappointing,” Schaechterle said. “We all just felt like we were a better team. It was a matter of intensity, not talent.”

Torricelli attributes his team’s sluggish start to fatigue.

“We already played six pretty intense matches,” he said. “It’s something we’ll have to address.”

The Cats have played six matches in 23 days.

Torricelli said he is confident in his team’s resilience.

“They don’t stay down for long,” he said. “We’ll be ready this Saturday.”

Reach David Morrison at [email protected].