M. Squash | After easy warmup, Ephs prove tough

It was home sweet home for the men's squash team on Saturday.

Playing at Ringe Courts for the first time in six weeks, Penn downed Amherst, 9-0, in the morning and handled Williams, 6-3, just hours later.

The No. 7 Quakers (5-2, 1-2 Ivy) had an auspicious start to the semester and to their stretch of four non-conference contests.

Against No. 15 Amherst (3-5), the Red and Blue barely flinched, surrendering only one game of the 28 played and winning all nine matches.

Freshman Thomas Mattsson led the match off as the Quakers' No. 1, outplaying his Amherst counterpart, senior Drew Blacker.

The Lord Jeffs' losing streak now stands at four matches.

No. 10 Williams (4-5) provided more of a challenge for Penn, which used the morning match as a tune up for its afternoon competition.

"We've always had a very good rivalry with Williams the last few years and some very close matches, so we were certainly gearing up and were ready for the Williams match as being a tougher encounter," Penn coach Craig Thorpe-Clark said.

Mattsson again scored a big win out of the No. 1 spot, winning his match in three games over junior Ethan Buchsbaum.

"He's the young gun on the team," Thorpe-Clark said. "He's been playing extremely well in practice and followed that up this weekend with two very good wins. Both matches were a little tougher than he made them look. He got in front of both opponents, dominated, and they struggled to keep up with him."

After Mattsson's opponent, the rest of the Ephs proved tough to beat in the early-going, securing wins out of the two, four and five spots.

Each of the three matches Penn lost went at least four games, but that proved moot, as the Quakers swept each match after the five spot.

"They were hard-fought matches, close first games, the courts were hot, the ball was bouncy, and overall as a team once we settled down, and started playing more skillfully, then we started dominating the rallies and dominating the games," Thorpe-Clark said. "That was a big factor in the difference between the two teams."

The Red and Blue have one more match - against Franklin and Marshall - to prepare for undefeated Trinity, which has gone unbeaten for nearly a decade and has won the last nine national championships.

"Hopefully, we've got three good wins under our belt if we can sneak by Franklin and Marshall and then be confident and then throw everything we have at Trinity," Thorpe-Clark said. "Trinity . is a powerhouse of squash. We've got nothing to lose and everything to gain."

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