Men's Squash: No. 1 Trinity goes for 13th straight title at Potter

The No. 3 Tigers (10-2, 5-1) look to rebound from a semifinal exit last year against No. 1 Trinity (17–0), which boasts a 241-match and 13-year win streak. During this incredible run, the Tigers fell victim to the Bantams in four of the past five national championship finals, including extremely painful 5-4 defeats in the 2006 and 2009 finals.

In fact, Trinity has booted Princeton out of the tournament for 10 consecutive years. The last time the Tigers were eliminated by an opponent other than Trinity was in 2000, when it lost 6-3 to Harvard in the semifinals.

In preparation for their first-round match against the Crimson, the Tigers have been watching film of their 7-2 victory against Harvard on Feb. 6.

“We all know who we will be playing on Friday and so we prepare by watching videos and looking for tendencies and weaknesses,” said senior No. 2 David Letourneau, who was named the Harrow Sports College Squash Player of the Week earlier this month after beating longtime rival Parth Sharma of Trinity to continue his individual undefeated season.

“I have film of my match that I can watch, but the most important thing is to feel fresh when I step on court,” senior No. 7 Philip Sopher said.

The Tigers are trying not to look past the match against Harvard to the possibility of consecutive matchups against Yale and Trinity, the only two teams that have defeated Princeton this year.

“We are taking the matches one at a time and are preparing carefully for the Harvard match on Friday,” senior No. 9 Nikhil Seth said. “Harvard will definitely put up a strong performance as they are playing at home and will give it their all.”

The Bulldogs defeated the Tigers 5-4 in late January and, should they displace No. 7 Dartmouth, could face Princeton at 3 p.m. on Saturday. The other side of the draw pits Trinity against No. 8 Franklin & Marshall while No. 5 Cornell takes on No. 4 Rochester. If the heavily favored Bantams take care of business against the Diplomats and then against either the Big Red or the Yellowjackets, Trinity would play for its 13th consecutive national championship at noon on Sunday, possibly getting the chance to eliminate the Tigers for the 11th time in as many years.

The Tigers realize that beating their longtime rival would be tough, but they are not giving up hope.

“Beating Trinity is tough, but it is certainly doable. The way we are going to win is if each individual believes he can win his own match, plays tough and fights hard,” Sopher said. “If all nine of us do this, we can scrap five wins.”

There are nine seniors on this year’s squad, four of whom play meaningful matches in the top nine. They say they want nothing more than to come out strong and to play up to their potential for their last tournament as Tigers. They also look to their teammates to put forth the same effort and determination, knowing that five losses in a match would mean the end to their career.

“Given that this is my last team national championships, I hope our team can bring it together and put our best foot forward,” Seth said. “I don’t think I am preparing for it any differently than I did last year, but all four of us seniors really want this title badly and will do everything we can to make it happen this time around.”