Men's Squash: Tigers will be tested vs. Rochester

The men’s squash team has the opportunity to extend its winning streak this weekend when it hosts Navy at Jadwin Gymnasium today at 5 p.m. It then travels north to take on the University of Rochester on Sunday.

Despite lineup changes, head coach Bob Callahan ’77 is optimistic about Friday’s competition against Navy.

“I think that we’re a stronger team, and we hope that we play well on Friday so that we can continue our successful streak so far this fall,” Callahan said. “Based on rankings, we have some stronger players up at the top of the ladder.”

The matchup against Navy will be a good tuneup for facing highly ranked and undefeated Rochester.

Callahan said the matches against the Yellowjackets will be the biggest of the fall schedule, as they are ranked No. 3 in the national polls, just behind the Tigers.

“Rochester’s gotten a lot better in the past couple years, so this match is the big one that we’ve really been focusing on in the past couple weeks,” senior tri-captain James Thorman said.

This year, Rochester has three All-Americans at the top of its lineup, and its has swiftly ascended from No. 25 to No. 3 in the country.

Unfortunately for Princeton (4-0 overall, 2-0 Ivy League), it has lost some of its top players to early-season injuries. Sophomore standout Kelly Shannon remains on the sidelines, and sophomore All-American Chris Callis, despite competing last weekend against Bates, will be missing from the lineup this weekend.

While the Tigers enjoy an undefeated record in their recent rivalry against Rochester, they cannot take anything for granted, especially in light of the absences of Shannon and Callis.

“Hopefully it’ll all go well,” Thorman said. “It’s going to be a tough match, but it’s one that we obviously want to win [to] send a message with, so we’re working hard at practice this week and making sure that we come away with a win.”

Thorman said that the injuries have been the main setback so far this season. Most of the members of the team who sat out against Cornell in the Ivy League opener are still out with injuries.

“Hopefully by January everyone will be healthy, but for this match we probably won’t have a full lineup,” Thorman said. “It’s unfortunate, but people are working on rehab and practicing when and where they can. It’s definitely a problem.”

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Regardless, the squad’s healthy players are pulling through, and the Tigers have benefited from the contributions of freshmen Todd Harrity and Steve Harrington.

“We have two freshmen this year. One is a fellow named Todd Harrity, who is actually one of the most highly regarded U.S. high school players in history, and he’s doing very well ,and right now is playing at the very top of our lineup,” Callahan said.

Thorman echoed his coach’s sentiments.

“Todd has stepped up: He’s been great. Steve’s come up with some good matches too. It’s been good. Everyone’s pulling their weight and making sure that we all contribute as a team towards the win,” Thorman said.

Last year, Princeton dominated the Ivy League by not yielding a single Ivy game.

While a recent clean sweep of Bates and Brown is something to be proud of, the matches are only going to get harder. This will start with the match against Rochester. Of course, always in the back of Princeton’s mind is a possible matchup with rival No. 1 Trinity, but the Tigers are not taking their Ancient Eight season for granted either.

“The biggest match of the Ivy season will be the Yale match in late January,” Callahan said. “They’re ranked fourth in the country right now, so it’ll be a very close match, as well as our matches with Harvard and Trinity College.”

“One of the things that we’ve been really good about this year is getting the big wins when we need them,” Thorman added. “So when we played Cornell, that was a good win. And a lot of the matches that have gone to five games are ones that we’ve fortunately won.”

Callahan noted that Princeton has yet to play any of the nation’s top five teams.

In the end, the big question comes down to whether Princeton can beat Trinity after years of heartbreakingly suspenseful matches for the No. 1 spot in the country.

“There are definitely big matches throughout the season,” Thorman said. “But the Trinity one is the one to win.”