Louisville vs. Chicago Inaugural Event

In May, 2023 we hosted the inaugural NSL test-match between Louisville and Chicago at the Louisville Boat Club. Spearheaded by the legendary Dave Adams, Team Chicago sent down a team of its heaviest hitters to draft and manage their first ever NSL roster. They would square off against Fernando Valdizan, Jay Hatcher, and the rest of the local Louisville squash crew. The event was a Thursday through Saturday affair with numerous squash and social events throughout. The squash events highlighted over the next 3 days would be the calcutta doubles draw and 2 NSL team matches, where the first team to win two out of the three events would win the overall title. 

On Thursday evening, things cracked off with dinner at the club followed by the live draft. Ryan Leslie, the MC, introduced the players available and started the live clock. Chicago won the first pick in the draft, selecting Timothy Brownell #1 overall. Louisville countered with Spencer Lovejoy at pick #2, and the rest of the draft went as follows:

Pick 3 — Samuel Scherl — Chicago, IL

Pick 4 — TJ Dembinski — Louisville, KY

Pick 5 — The Huang Brothers — Chicago, IL

Pick 6 — Mark Broekman — Louisville, KY

The teams then met with their new owners and decided the doubles pairings- team owners would pair up with their players to form a pro-am hardball doubles draw taking place the next day. A calcutta style draft took place, with the two highest value teams receiving a bye to the semifinals. The final ended up being an all Chicago affair, with top seeds Jay Hatcher and Mark Broekman of Louisville getting knocked out by Sam Scherl and Dave Adams in the semifinals, and on the other half local hero Lee Scott and TJ Dembinski fell to Timmy Brownell and Barrett Eynon. The final saw Barrett and Brownell take the title, and the focus then shifted to the main event, the first ever trial of the Hot Seat format.

With Chicago already up one point after winning the pro-am doubles, the pressure was on team Louisville to even the score. Chicago got off to a flaming start, taking the first period and mounting even more pressure on the home team, but with help from the crowd, team Louisville dominated the second period, tying the match up at 1-1. The third period, worth 2 points, would now decide the match. It began neck and neck with multiple early lead changes, until a hot streak by Mark “Mantis” Broekman put Louisville slightly ahead towards the middle stage. With 7 minutes remaining in the third period it was Brownell vs Lovejoy to close. Lovejoy was able to hold the lead and seal the match for team Louisville in a nail-biting 23-21 victory. 

That evening, sponsors and players were able to either drown their sorrows or celebrate their success together at The Gaffney House, a historical riverfront property where team Louisville owner, Galen Weiss, welcomed everyone to a bourbon tasting and dinner prepared by Michelin star chef, Edward Lee. But with the score at 1-1 now, there was still a lot to play for.

The final hot seat would decide the winner of the inaugural NSL match. Both teams were hungry for victory, team Louisville still with the home advantage, but team Chicago gunning for revenge after the narrow loss the previous day. Chicago came out firing from the gates, taking the first period with ease. Louisville fought back in the second, but lost out narrowly, putting team Chicago in the driver’s seat at 2-0. The best Louisville could hope for was to win the third and send it to overtime. The final period was close throughout until Chicago player Dylan Huang went on an absolute massacre, rattling off point after point to put team Chicago ahead. The period ended again with the two crowd favorites, Brownell and Lovejoy battling it out. Chicago cleverly saved their power play for the end of the period, which held off Louisville from scoring points and allowed Brownell to build a lead as well as gas out Lovejoy and force errors towards the end. Chicago took the final period and the overall event 2-1 in what was an extremely electrifying and entertaining few days of squash. 

Pictures from the Louisville vs. Chicago Inaugural Event