Men's Squash to face Stanford in Postseason Opener

The men's squash team begins its postseason play this Friday at the University of Pennsylvania where it will most likely take on the Stanford Cardinals in the first round of the 9-Man National Tournament, pending a MIT loss to Wesleyan University tonight.

Tufts (7-7), as the 20th nationally ranked team, goes into the tournament as the number four seed in their bracket and number 21 Stanford (6-5) is seeded third. The two teams met in the Dartmouth Invitational Tournament on Nov. 23 when Stanford defeated Tufts in a close 5-4 match. Beating Stanford would have allowed the Jumbos to enter the tournament with a winning record.

"We would have loved to beat Stanford," Coach Doug Eng said. "But this is pretty much where we want to be [going into the postseason]."

"We should have beat them last time. Our players have gotten better and we are ready to win it this time," freshman standout Tom Keidel echoed.

Putting the past behind them, the Jumbos now focus on their upcoming match.

"It's going to be a tight one because we lost to them 5-4 in season. We both have strong teams. It's going to be a battle," senior captain Chris Choi said.

Both teams are coming into the tournament from season ending victories. Tufts is coming off a 8-1 win over Connecticut College on Saturday, Feb. 8 and Stanford defeated University of California-Berkeley 7-2 last Monday.

According to Choi, the Jumbos have "trained really hard" in the two weeks since their last match.

"We have spent a lot of time sharpening our shots," Choi said "We are ready."

Keidel agreed that the Jumbos are ready for action. "We are rested from our hectic schedule, and have had time to get ourselves straightened out," said Keidel, who is tied for the winningest player on the Jumbo squad.

Choi, who was beaten 3-0 by Stanford's Rich Sherwood in the teams' last meeting, said that the difference will be in the lower matches.

"Its going to come from the four match down to nine, those are going to be tough," he said. "Stanford is strong at the top and it will be big to get a win in the top three."

Teammates predict that the close matchup will come down to the wire and a Jumbo victory will need a full team effort in order to be achieved.

"We can't just rely on people who have been consistent. We need to get our nerves under control," Keidel said.

The team believes that their recent rest period and good practices will help calm the Jumbos nerves entering the match-up against the Cardinals.

"[The match] will be very intense, but the pressure is more on Stanford than us," Choi said. "Last time it was just a matter of some calls that could have gone either way. They have to prove they can beat us again. Traveling so far from the west coast is going to add to their pressure."

Should the Jumbos win, the team will take on either Franklin and Marshall or Navy in the semifinals.

"If we get past Stanford, I have a feeling that we will play the number one seed, F&M, who is very skilled. They will be a tough team but we can match up with them because of our depth," Keidel said. "It will only get tougher after Stanford. We'll take it as it comes, one by one. The Stanford match will set the tone for the tournament."

"If we win then we can place well in our league," he added. "It all revolves around that match."

While Coach Eng stressed that either Franklin and Marshall or Navy will be very tough in the semifinals, his team is focusing only on Stanford and that they will be taking Nationals one match at a time.