.png&width=24&type=webp)
Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Men's Squash Readies for #4 Rochester, #1 Trinity In Showdown Home Weekend
February 10, 2011 | Men's Squash
VIDEO STREAMING l DAVID LETOURNEAU ON TIGERCAST
With fourth-ranked Rochester in town this Saturday, the Princeton men's squash team knows it will need to play at its highest level. That fact alone would make this, the final days of the 2010-11 regular season, a huge weekend for the Tigers.
But that doesn't include Sunday. That's when Trinity brings its 12 national titles and 225 consecutive wins back to Jadwin.
So, yeah, it's a pretty big weekend at Jadwin.
Of course, the challenge for the Princeton men's squash team is also an opportunity peak at the ideal time, as it gets closer to the 2011 CSA team national championships. Princeton is currently the third seed, though it could likely move up or down a spot depending on the weekend results. Both matches can be seen live on GoPrincetonTigers.TV.
The first match takes place at 3 p.m. Saturday, and the Rochester Yellowjackets come in with the momentum of a hard-fought 5-4 team win over No. 5 Cornell Wednesday night. That match came down to the No. 7 position, where Juan Pablo Gaviria rallied from a 2-1 hole and defeated McKay Claghorn 3-2, including 11-0 in the final game.
Rochester is no stranger to close matches; it defeated Princeton by the same score last season to earn the third seed in the CSA team playoffs. The Tigers rallied in the third-place match for a 7-2 win, which included a wild 3-2 victory for junior Christopher Callis at the No. 3 position. Because Princeton had lost its two seniors to injury prior to that match, the Tigers' varsity nine in the 2010 third-place match is likely to be the same as Rochester will see on Saturday, although a couple players near the bottom of the ladder have changed spots.
A Princeton victory Saturday would assure it no worse than a third seed in the CSA team championships, which will be held Feb. 25-27 at Harvard. That would likely set up a quarterfinal rematch with Harvard, which the Tigers topped 7-2 last weekend. If seeds held, Princeton would then see No. 2 Yale, which held off Princeton 5-4 in New Haven earlier this season.
Of course, Princeton could affect seedings if it could pull off a Trinity stunner the following day. The Bantams, who haven't lost since Feb. 22, 1998, will come to Jadwin Gym for the first time since the historic 2009 national championship match. That was one of Trinity's 12 straight national titles and 225 straight team wins, which include team victories over Yale (7-2), Rochester (6-3) and Cornell (6-3) already this season. Last weekend, Trinity played without No. 1 Vikram Malhotra, but managed to defeat Harvard 6-3.
If Malhotra plays No. 1, it could set up a pair of intriguing matchups at the top of the ladder. Malhotra would face Princeton sophomore Todd Harrity, the 2010 national individual finalist and the top-ranked player in college squash. Both players lost in last year's individual tournament to eventual winner Colin West, and both could be on a collision course to meet in the 2011 final (although there are a handful of players, including both No. 2s, who would have something to say about that).
At the No. 2 position, Trinity's Parth Sharma and Princeton's David Letourneau would meet for the fifth time in the last three years. Sharma has won all four, including a 3-2 comeback win in the 2009 national final. In his interview with TigerCast, which can be accessed with the link atop the story, Letourneau talks about the experience of those matches and how much he is looking forward to the upcoming weekend.