New-look M. Squash earns nail-biting win over Navy

Playing without their recently departed Nos. 2 and 3, the Quakers pulled off a 5-4 win. How does a team cope with the loss of two of its top players? The Penn men's squash team answered that question Wednesday when it beat Navy 5-4 at the Ringe Squash courts. This was the first match the Quakers played without the assistance of former Nos. 2 and 3, Shams Mistry and Chuck Braff. Mistry and Braff both quit the team last weekend, citing differences with the coach and teammates. With Mistry and Braff gone, the Quakers feature a largely inexperienced lineup, with five freshmen and two sophomores in the top nine. Yet the Red and Blue (4-5) put to rest any questions of how the young team would handle itself, as they defeated Navy (9-6) in a hard-fought match. "Everyone played great and showed that they could step it up a level in the absence of Chuck and Shams," sophomore Will Ruthrauff said. One player who truly showed that he could handle the added pressure was freshman Ritish Telani. With the overall score tied at 4-4, the final result hinged on Telani's individual match. Although Telani was winning two games to none at one point, his opponent, Navy sophomore Brian Ko, battled back to tie the match. "By the end of the second game I was exhausted," Telani later said. "[Ko] was simply fitter, faster, and stronger, which allowed him to take the third and fourth games." As both the Quakers and the Midshipmen looked on, each cheering loudly for their respective teammate, Telani overcame his exhaustion and won the final game 15-12. "Props must go to Ritish for pulling out a victory in the fifth game -- the one that clinched the victory," Ruthrauff said. "He really showed great poise and confidence the way he handled the pressure when it counted -- especially as a freshman." For the Quakers, this was a much-needed win. Penn had lost three straight matches coming in, to Princeton, Trinity and Williams. The Midshipmen -- who fell to Penn 6-3 last year -- barely blew a chance at revenge. Instead of getting redemption, however, the Midshipmen left Penn wondering about what could have been. Upsetting the ninth-ranked Quakers would have given Navy's No. 16 ranking a much needed boost. "We knew it was going to be a close match with one match in either direction deciding," said Capt. Phil Ryan, Navy's assistant coach. "It's still pretty hard to take when you lose 5-4. "A difference of three points is always hard to stomach." Now that the Quakers have momentum on their side, they must turn their focus to two of the most important matches of the season, Harvard and Dartmouth. These two matches are the last chance the Quakers have of reaching their long-standing goal of becoming one of the nation's top eight teams. Though a win against either one of these squash powerhouses would be enough to boost the Quakers' ranking, an upset against Dartmouth is the more likely scenario. "Our focus is on Dartmouth this weekend," Ruthrauff said. "We lost to them twice last season and we haven't forgotten about it. We always have good matches and this one should prove to be no different." Penn coach Jim Masland refused to make predictions about how his team will fare against Harvard and Dartmouth. One thing is for sure, though. By Sunday night, the Quakers' tumultuous dual meet season will be over and Penn will know exactly where it stands.