Super Bowl Sunday can't come quickly enough for the Penn men's squash team.
The No. 7 Quakers fell, 9-0, to No. 2 Princeton in a match last night in New Jersey.
The Red and Blue (6-4, 1-3 Ivy) were on their second road trip in four days, coming off another 9-0 defeat, this one at the hands of No. 1 Trinity.
With a week and a half before their next contest, the Quakers will have this coming weekend to rest their legs and watch some football.
But even if his team is tired after two grueling contests against the best squads in the country, coach Craig Thorpe-Clark dismissed the fact that fatigue had anything to do with Wednesday's loss.
His co-captain, Parker Justi, agreed.
"All of us are used to having to play multiple matches a day," Justi, a senior, said. "I think mentally we weren't necessarily on top of our game today."
Penn switched around the ladder by starting sophomore James Clark at No.1, where freshman Thomas Mattsson had been the previous four matches.
Mattson did not compete in the match Wednesday, but it might not have mattered; the Quakers weren't only swept in all nine spots - each individual player was swept in three straight games.
To be fair, Princeton (7-0, 3-0) could be the only collegiate squash club with the ability to challenge untouchable Trinity.
Thorpe-Clark described the Princeton players as "fit," "eager" and "sharp," adding, "I think we were a little short of being really ready for them."
Both he and Justi noted the strong play of Porter Drake.
The sophomore from Illinois faced Egyptian Hesham El Halaby, currently ranked No. 15 in the country by the College Squash Association.
El Halaby is just one of eight Tigers ranked in the top 25 by the CSA, five of whom played last night against the Quakers.
Regardless, Penn finds itself without an opportunity to have a winning record in conference play. Its chance to pull to .500 in the Ancient Eight will have to wait until the weekend after next, when the Red and Blue have matches on back-to-back days with Harvard and Dartmouth.
"Winning both of them convincingly - of course - would be incredible," Justi said. "But just winning them would be a real feat and definitely could turn our whole season around."
The Quakers not only have time to recuperate, but they also won't need to travel. Their final two Ivy matches of the year are home at Ringe Courts.
Then on Valentine's Day, Penn closes the season on the road at Rochester.
"Last couple of years, the end of the season has been where we shined and I think it can be again," Justi said.
