There was never a doubt who the favorite was.
A 155-game win streak is tough to compete with, and the men's squash team simply did not have the firepower to beat Trinity. The Bantams defeated Penn 9-0 on Saturday.
No. 4 Penn visited No. 1 Trinity with its own seven-game win streak, but the Bantams took all nine matches in straight flights. The Quakers' Lee Rosen, at the No. 2 position, scored the most points in any set with six in his third flight against Baset Chaudhry.
"Some of the matches were very long despite some lopsided scores," coach Craig Thorpe-Clark said.
Christopher Thompson in the No. 7 slot and Graham Bassett in the No. 5 slot were two of the players Thorpe-Clarke pointed to as playing particularly valiantly.
Senior captain Ben Ende, who lost in the No. 4 hole, supported his coach's comments on the effort.
"We made opponents really win the victories," he said. We fought really hard, made guys from Trinity work in long matches."
Though it would not have changed the overall decision, the Quakers were missing two of their top nine players. Junior Spencer Kurn, who normally mans the No. 5 position, and sophomore Andrew Zimmerman, who usually plays at No.8, were both ill over the weekend. Senior Ryan Rayfield and sophomore Joey Raho filled in for the match.
There were no delusions that the Quakers were going to beat the talented Trinity team on their home court, but the Penn players did have higher expectations.
"We all expected to do better, it's a little disappointing," Thorpe-Clarke said. "You learn the most when you play the best players."
Trinity certainly has the best players, with six players ranked in the top 20 in the latest individual poll. Penn's Gilly Lane was ranked fifth in that poll.
In addition, Trinity has not only won all twelve matches this season, but has only given up a single point all year.
"They really are one level ahead of the game," Ende said. Given that the Bantams have not lost in the last nine years, they will maintain that recognition until they lose.
"We knew it would be tough and it turned out that way," Thorpe-Clark said. "They were out to make a statement and they took us to the cleaners."
