The men’s squash team is winning at just the right time.
With four more matches before championships, the Quakers’ road wins against Williams College, 5-4, and Amherst, 9-0, Saturday should provide the momentum the team needs for a strong end to the season.
With both victories, Penn — who did not win a game on the road during the first half of the season — boosted its road record above .500, to 3-2.
According to head coach Craig Thorpe-Clark, the No. 8 Quakers (5-3, 1-2 Ivy) knew going into the weekend that No. 10 Williams (9-5) in particular was going to be an extremely tough opponent.
“We’ve had very close matches with Williams the last five or six years,” Thorpe-Clark said, “so we knew we would have to have our A-game and play our best. Fortunately for us, we just stuck it out.”
The Quakers benefited during the match by jumping out to an early lead.
“Getting Will Browne to win at No. 9 and Trevor McGuinness winning at No. 3 were real keys,” Thorpe-Clark said. “It just gave us a bit more momentum and took the pressure off.”
In addition, Thorpe-Clark commented that Mark Froot’s 3-2 win at the top of the ladder and James Clark’s 3-2 win at No. 4 were crucial.
“They both played with a great deal of pressure on them,” Thorpe-Clark said. “They both pulled down very good wins to seal the match.”
The coach added that Froot’s match, a “see-saw battle” with Williams sophomore Ethan Buchsbaum, was critical to the Penn victory.
Thorpe-Clark also praised No. 5 Porter Drake’s toughness in his 3-1 victory. Drake recovered from an 11-5 loss in his first game to defeat Julian Drobetsky.
“Williams had a lot of supporters,” Thrope-Clark said. “It was a really tough match.”
After the match against Williams, it was smooth sailing for Penn. Out of the nine contests played against Amherst (3-3), the Quakers won seven 3-0 and two 3-1.
Both victories will give some road confidence to the team before it heads into next week’s matchup with powerhouse No. 1 Trinity.
“We’re doing very well,” Thorpe-Clark said. “The team has stepped up. Everyone is doing a good job in practice and training. Obviously this weekend we’re playing Trinity, who is still undefeated. We’re looking to go in and play as well as we can against them.”
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