M. Squash loses two in Connecticut

After having trouble just getting to Hartford, the men's squash team fell to highly-ranked Trinity and Williams. Everyone knows the early bird catches the worm. But that adage did not apply to the Penn men's squash team this Sunday in its matches against Trinity and Williams. In fact, those Quakers who arrived on time for the bus ride to Hartford, Conn., were forced to wait over two hours due to the tardiness of others. "Trying to get our team organized and at the courts at the right time is, at times, almost impossible," sophomore Will Ruthrauff said. The delay in departure, besides angering some of the squash players, made the Quakers so late that they had to rearrange their matches. The match against Williams was originally scheduled to be played at Yale. However, because of Penn's lateness, the Quakers (3-5) were forced to call Williams and ask them to travel to Trinity instead. Furthermore, besides missing a chance to view scenic New Haven, the Quakers also had to push back their match against Trinity, which was originally scheduled for noon, until well past 2 p.m. The Quakers' problems unfortunately did not end with their arrival at Trinity. Trinity (8-0), the nation's No. 2 team, simply overpowered the Red and Blue. Led by two first-team All-Americans -- Marcus Cowie and Preston Quick -- the Bantams won all 27 games en route to a 9-0 victory. Although the score may have read 9-0, the match was not a complete loss for the Quakers. "The Trinity match was really just a great experience to play such a high-caliber team," Ruthrauff said. "Even though we got smoked it was a good experience for our team to play the best players in the country. "We all got to see how strong each of our positions could be." More practically, the Trinity match was also a good warmup for their evening match against Williams. Playing the first match against the Bantams gave the Red and Blue a chance to forget about the bus ride, become used to the Trinity courts and regain their focus for Williams, the more important of the two matches for Penn. But the Quakers were disappointed once again, as they fell to the eighth-ranked Ephs 7-2. Against a team Penn believed it could beat, only Ruthrauff and sophomore Peter Withstandley came away with victories. "This loss against Williams was very disappointing," captain Andrew Hopkins said. "This is a team that was definitely beatable and we just didn't take the opportunity." The loss was all the more upsetting because a win would have allowed the ninth-ranked Quakers to move up in the polls. "Our loss to Williams was definitely a huge disappointment," Ruthrauff said. "A win against them would have basically sealed our inclusion in the top eight, which has been our goal all along." With the Quakers now sporting a 3-5 record, they will need a strong showing against the remainder of their opponents if they are to make a run at the top eight. The next squad the Red and Blue will have to contend with is a strong Navy team, made even stronger by their naval training. "Navy should be the better conditioned team because they run all day in their hiking boots, while most of their opponents just hang out and go to frat parties," Ruthrauff said. "The opportunity to play anyone trained in how to fire ballistic missiles is a valuable experience." With the Midshipmen not coming to town for another eight days, the Quakers have ample opportunity to practice arriving at the match on time.