Trinity Streak Faces Key Tests Beginning Tomorrow
by David Keating, special to DailySquashReport.com
January 12, 2012 - The 250-match winning streak held by Trinity Men’s Squash, an all-time collegiate sports record, could come to an end as early as tomorrow, when Trinity begins a three-week stretch against eight teams ranked among the top nine in the nation.
James Zug, coauthor of “Run to the Roar, Coaching to Overcome Fear” with Trinity head coach Paul Assaiante, says “almost every year there has been this sort of chatter. The only difference this year is that there are so many teams who might be the one breaking the streak.”
Assaiante gave a similar assessment in an email, writing that the “season looks to be one of the closest in recent history and with no one being a clear favorite” in “an exciting season” where each of the top “six teams are … vying for the crown.”
After some dominating wins earlier in the season, including its blanking of #10 Williams, the toughest part of Trinity’s schedule begins this week when it faces off against a much-improved Cornell team (ranked #6) that lost to Trinity 6-3 last season. Cornell is undefeated this season and has dropped just two individual matches all season. Superstitious Trinity fans may fear that the match will be played Friday the 13th.
The Cornell match will be played at Trinity, but since the school is out of session and the residence halls are closed through January 22, Trinity likely won’t have its usually large home crowd to cheer the team on.
If the streak survives the Cornell match, Trinity faces another strong team two days later – Franklin & Marshall. F&M lost to nationally ranked #2 Yale by a 6-3 margin last month, but two of the losses went to five games.
Trinity would then play its only away match for the remainder of its regular season at Yale on January 18. In last year’s national championship final, Trinity and Yale fought to a 4-4 tie on neutral ground before then-senior Chris Binnie beat Richard Dodd in four games. It was the seventh time that Trinity kept the streak alive with a 5-4 win.
Assaiante notes that Trinity “graduated 5 all Americans and it will be tough sledding without them,” but the team is “working hard and we are looking forward to a wonderful match” against Cornell.
Last year’s team had a deep reservoir of talent, and despite the losses of key players, the current team has yet to drop an individual match this season. The team was also bolstered by transfer Juan Lopez and freshmen Elroy Leong and John Lamont, who have started for the team in each contest this season.
Trinity’s line up during this crucial stretch could also be strengthened by Miled Zarazua, a highly regarded player who was added to the online roster in late November, but has yet to play. Zarazua played #1 for Mexico in the 2010 World Junior Team Championships. He won 17 straight US Junior Open matches from 2008 to 2010, winning two titles before he fell to Cornell’s #1 Nick Sachvie in the 2010 final. He beat Princeton’s current #3 Tyler Osborne in the semis that year. Zarazua would likely play in the top three.
Still, Yale and Cornell lost just two starters from last season. Cornell gained two strong freshmen, led by Aditya Jagtap, who has played in the top 3, and benefits from the return of Will Hartigan. Yale also gained a starter among their freshmen.
If Trinity gets by Cornell, F&M and Yale, the team plays Harvard January 21. The Crimson is expected to strongly contend for the national title and won the Ivy Scrimmages. Starting January 27 Trinity plays a tough team once per day – closing out the regular season with matches against Rochester, Dartmouth, Penn and Princeton.
Whether the streak continues or not, college squash fans are sure to see some exciting matches in the coming six weeks concluding with the national championships at Princeton February 17-19.
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