Although it has already had its most impressive season in a very long time, the Penn men's squash team still has to pass one more test before this year can truly be called a success.
This weekend, the Quakers (8-3, 4-2 Ivy) will be playing in the Team Championships in New Haven, Conn. Their goal is to beat first-round opponent and host Yale (10-4, 2-3) and maintain their current No. 4 ranking.
If they can do that, they will finish higher than any other Penn team in two decades.
Although the team would obviously like to win the tournament, one big obstacle stands in its way: No. 1 Trinity and its eight-year long unbeaten streak.
Should the Quakers beat No. 5 Yale, Trinity would likely await them in the second round.
So instead, the team is really "focusing on one match at a time" according to junior Lee Rosen, and trying first and foremost to take care of Yale.
They've already accomplished that goal this season, beating the Elis for the first time in almost 20 years.
But the Quakers are careful to not be complacent. Moreover, they expect the Elis to come at them with some added motivation.
"It's really tough beating a team twice in the span of one year, especially when they're so close in talent," senior and captain Gilly Lane said.
In a similar situation last week, Penn's women's squash team lost to underdog Harvard in New Haven.
Lane said that match serves as a reminder that the Quakers have to stay on their toes.
Penn will also have to watch out for any element of rust that may be present. While they haven't played in two weeks, No. 5 Yale lost to No. 3 Harvard 7-2 on Wednesday.
However, Penn coach Craig Thorpe-Clark and Lane look at it another way.
"I think [the rust] is good for us," Thorpe-Clark said. "Yale just played, they might be tired, and we've still had two weeks of good practice."
For Lane, these are his final matches for Penn and he said that has given him a mental boost.
"For us seniors, these are the last three matches we're going to play in our college career," he said. "I don't think we can use rust as an excuse."
It has been a long road for these Quakers over the past few years. When Lane was a freshman, the team finished seventh. Since then, they've improved one spot every year, and hope to do that again by finishing fourth after a fifth-place effort last season.
"I don't want to say that I'll only be happy with a fourth-place finish," the captain said. "But it'd be great to finish the highest we've ever finished in my senior year."
