Princeton rebounds against Quakers

Only one match against Penn (6-5) went beyond the minimum three games, as senior co-captain Brandon Bascom slugged it out with the Quakers’ Parker Justi.

In the end, Bascom won a close contest by taking Justi down in the fifth game, 9-7. Fellow senior co-captain Tom McKay, slotted in the ladder’s No. 6 spot, played three consistent games as he defeated Joey Raho 9-3, 9-4, 9-4.

Junior Mauricio Sanchez, who is currently the No. 1-ranked collegiate squash player, won three quick games, 9-2, 9-5, 9-1.

The only player with a flawless game, however, was freshman Dave Letourneau, who won 9-4, 9-4, 9-0.

The other freshman in the starting lineup, Peter Sopher, followed in his classmate’s perfect footsteps, sweeping his three games.

Sopher’s twin, Philip, was out of action following a hard-fought victory against his Yale opponent last Thursday.

Besides the top-ranked Sanchez, Princeton is the home of the No. 3 and No. 4-ranked players in the country. Juniors Kimlee Wong and Hesham El Halaby, who both won in fine form, dropped only 19 points between them.

Sophomore Santiago Imberton and junior Scott Callahan also won their matches in straight games — 9-1, 9-2, 9-2 and 9-6, 9-4, 9-5, respectively — to round out Princeton’s sweep.

As a team, the Tigers ceded only 12 points per match, meaning that, on average they won more than twice as many points as their opponents.

Having defeated Ivy League rival Penn, the No. 9-ranked team in college squash, Princeton has now stepped into the heart of its season.

This weekend’s contests against Dartmouth (9-3) and Harvard (4-1) are the Tigers’ only remaining league contests.

“Our challenge is having the most competitive part of our Ivy League and National Championship schedule come down to 17 days in February,” head coach Bob Callahan ’77 said.

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“We play Trinity in the biggest match of the season on the Wednesday after exams end, which is not ideal. We then play Harvard, Yale, Penn, Dartmouth, plus the National Championships in 14 days,” he added.

Though the Tigers lost to Trinity, they are still contenders for an Ivy League Championship and the national title.

In pursuing their goals, these Princeton road warriors will go on the road again. They travel north to both Dartmouth and Harvard this weekend.

Dartmouth is the nation’s No. 6 team, and Harvard holds the third spot in the rankings. Harvard, a perennial squash power along with the Tigers, will pose a great challenge and provide another stringent test.

For the Tigers to succeed this weekend, Sanchez and Wong will need to continue their winning ways, which have yet to fail them in league play this season. Both, however, dropped matches against Trinity.

With Princeton’s top players rounding into form, the Tigers are primed to make another run at the national championship that has eluded them for each of the last two seasons.

“It is a challenge, particularly having so many matches away,” Callahan said. “But we look forward to it. We enjoy playing on the road.”

With their confidence restored by a strong win against Penn, Princeton is primed to make a run. These Tigers have trained for the other 348 days of the year to master the skills that will carry them through the next 10 days and toward their goals.