Trinity Men Defend National Championship At Yale This Weekend by David Kingsley February 23, 2016, Hartford, Conn.
- The Trinity College men's squash team, which has a 19-1 record after
a 5-4 loss at St. Lawrence and a 9-0 win at Hamilton on February 13,
will defend its College Squash Association (CSA) National Team
Championship (Potter Trophy) title this weekend at Yale
University. The three-day event under a new format that features
the top-16 teams in intercollegiate men's and women's squash competing
on the same weekend at the same location, will take place from Friday,
February 26 to Sunday, February 28. The Bantams, which won their 15th
national title in the last 17 seasons a year ago and captured their
10th consecutive New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC)
Championship title earlier this month, are the top seed in the CSA "A'"
Division bracket, having posted a 6-1 record against the other seven
teams in the field during the regular season. Trinity will open
post-season play against the No. 8-seeded Columbia University Lions
(7-5) on Friday, February 26 at 2:30 p.m.
The Bantams,
coached by Paul Assaiante (22nd season, 397-14), will face the winner
of Friday's match featuring No. 4-seeded Rochester and No. 5-seeded
Pennsylvania in the CSA Semifinals on Saturday, February 27 at 2:30
p.m. if they win against Columbia, and the CSA Finals will take place
on Sunday, February 28 at 3 p.m. The Potter Trophy consists of
the top eight teams in intercollegiate squash in a three-round, single
elimination tournament. The other CSA Quarterfinal matches are
No. 2-seeded Yale against No. 7-seeded Dartmouth, and No. 3-seeded St.
Lawrence against No. 6-seeded Harvard. Trinity blanked the Lions,
9-0, in New York City on January 13.
Trinity has a combined
individual match record of 159-21 in its 20 matches this year, and
sophomore James Evans (Maidstone, England) leads the Bantams
individually with a 17-0 record this winter and a two-year career mark
of 36-0. First-year Mudit Pant (Ghaziabad, India) is perfect in 10
matches this season, while sophomore Omar Allaudin (Lahore, Pakistan)
has a team-high 18 wins against just one loss, and rookie Nku Patrick
(San Fernando, Trinidad) is 17-1. Sophomore Rick Penders
(Maastricht, Netherlands)) is 13-3 at the top of the Trinity lineup,
while freshman Michael Craig (Belfast, Northern Ireland) is 12-3 at the
No. 2 spot. Trinity senior co-captain Juan Vargas (Bogota,
Colombia) and junior co-captain Affeeq Ismail (Kuching, Malaysia) have
combined for a 28-5 mark, and first-years Tor Christoffersen (Malmoe,
Sweden) and Tom De Mulder (Gent, Belgium) are 28-6 between them for the
Bantams.
