You don’t often get a second chance to knock off the No. 1 team in the country. But after trouncing Brown 9-0 and then edging Trinity 6-3 in the semifinals of the Howe Cup, the No. 2 Harvard women’s squash team was set for a Sunday showdown with top-ranked, defending champion Yale.

In the rematch of the Ivy championship game a week prior, the Crimson was unable to overcome a deep and powerful Bulldog squad, falling 7-2 to conclude its season ranked No. 2 in college squash.

“We knew they would be tough,” co-captain Lindsey Wilkins said of Yale. “They’re really a phenomenal team.”

Yale claimed its second-straight season as Ivy, national, and Howe Cup champions.

YALE 7, HARVARD 2

It was a Howe Cup final that was virtually a foregone conclusion ever since the Crimson’s tantalizingly close 5-4 loss to the Bulldogs last week in Cambridge. Yale came away with its No. 1 national ranking intact and its second-straight league crown secured. The Crimson, meanwhile, was left with its only loss of the season and a desire for a Howe Cup rematch.

Harvard got the rematch, but not the upset, as Yale dominated Sunday’s contest to take a 7-2 victory and claim its second consecutive national championship.

“They played really well,” said freshman No. 5 Supriya Balsekar. “I think we were lucky to get it to 5-4, to win four matches [last week]. They came out wanting to win.”

The Crimson never mustered the energy of the week before to take down a focused, aggressive Yale lineup.

Harvard’s only two wins came from Balsekar and sophomore No. 6 Lydia Williams. Baleskar finished her rookie season undefeated in dual match play. She beat Frances Ho 9-0, 6-9, 9-3, 9-2.

“I knew not to underestimate her, but I knew her game from last time,” Balsekar said.

Williams topped Lauren Doline in four games, 9-7, 9-6, 4-9, 9-5.

In the matchup of two of squash’s top players at No. 1, defending Individuals champion Michelle Quibell evened the score against sophomore Kyla Grigg. Grigg, who beat Quibell in five hard-fought games last week, succumbed in four games, 9-3, 8-10, 9-6, 9-3.

The long weekend of tough matches took its toll on the Crimson’s ladder.

“They came in pretty fresh, and we were drained,” Wilkins said.