On the biggest stage in college squash, with the national championship at stake, the men's squad was playing a team that many call the best ever assembled — Trinity. All the ingredients were there for an upset: large crowd, lots of emotion, and an underdog pining for the win. For the first 15 minutes of the match, it looked like that grand upset might be pulled off.
However, the Tigers' initial excitement began to wear off as Trinity (11-0 overall), ranked No. 1 in the nation, weathered the emotional storm before taking control on their way to a 8-1 victory Saturday at Jadwin, and on their way to yet another national title.
The Trinity team can be thought of as the 1980 Soviet Union hockey team, filled with talent and facing a Princeton (8-1 overall, 6-0 Ivy League) team that most gave no chance. For a short time, it looked like there could be a "Miracle at Jadwin."
The Tigers opened the match with a focus and intensity that Trinity had not seen all season. Early in the even set, Princeton was tied or ahead in all four matches. Mighty Trinity was worried.
Junior No. 2 David Yik, senior No. 4 Peter Kelly, and freshman No. 6 Dent Wilkins each won the first game of their matches. Freshman Rob Siverd dropped the first game at No. 8, but came back to tie it by winning the second.
Gradually, Princeton's intensity level took a drop, as the more skilled Trinity players took control.
"It was a long attritionary process," Trinity coach Paul Assaiante said. "This was a pretty senior team that did not get flustered."
The only Princeton player to sustain the momentum was Kelly, who kept Kyme off balance the entire day. Kelly's deep shots forced Kyme into numerous unforced errors, and allowed Kelly to jump out to a 2-0 lead. When Kyme made adjustments in the third game, Kelly responded, and held on for a 3-0 win.
"Peter [Kelly] was brilliant today. He never allowed our guy to get going," Assaiante said.
After the even set, Trinity was ahead 3-1. Yik went on to lose, 3-1, as did Wilkins and Siverd.
The beginning of the odd set was as competitive as the even set. Junior No. 3 Dan Rutherford won the first game 9-6. This was the third match where the Tigers won the first game but eventually lost the match.
Freshman No. 9 Nate Beck, the hero of last week's Ivy-clinching win over Harvard, also fell in a tough match, 3-0.
While the victory was a dominating one by Trinity, it was not as dominating as most had expected. Given the severity by which Trinity beat both Harvard and Yale, it was expected that the same would happen to Princeton.
However, the Tigers were able to pressure Trinity all day, and the fact that they were able to win at least one game in a majority of the matches was an impressive feat.
"It was close enough so that I was disappointed at the end," Callahan said.
The Tigers do look forward to possibly playing Trinity again next weekend at the ISA Team Championships.
"I would like to get another shot at them next week and hopefully play them a little tougher," Callahan said.
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