Jumbos lose squeaker to MIT

Heading into a stretch of five difficult matches last week, the men's squash team knew its only chance for a victory would be against MIT.

This knowledge proved to be too little against the Engineers, however, as the Jumbos lost the match 5-4, setting the tone for what would turn into five straight losses.

Immediately following the MIT loss, Tufts fell 8-1 to Brown before traveling to Maine where the team fell to Bowdoin (8-1), Bates (9-0), and Colby (8-1).

"Bowdoin and Bates are real upper echelon teams," senior co-captain Jesse Goldberg said. "We expected it to be very tough."

Against Bowdoin, only freshman Dave Linz at number nine managed to emerge victorious (9-6, 9-2, 9-3).

Bates defeated the Jumbos in a similar manner, as Linz was again the only Jumbo with any degree of success. Though he lost the match, Linz was the only Jumbos to win even a single game, losing a hard fought match 5-9, 9-3, 9-7, 9-6.

"We lost by a lot in those matches, but we put up a fight," Goldberg said. "I was very proud of the team, we knew what was coming and we handled it well. I think we took them by surprise in a couple matches with our toughness."

Against Colby on Friday, three Tufts players had matches that went to five games. Senior co-captain Jordan Kolasinski was the only winner, however, with a victory at the number five position (4-9, 6-9, 9-7, 9-5, 9-5). Senior Alex Busse lost in a tight match at number eight (9-0, 9-3, 8-10, 1-9, 9-3), and Linz also lost a nail-biter at number nine (7-9, 9-3, 9-2, 7-9, 9-3).

"We played a great match against Colby," coach Doug Eng said. "It was the closest we've come against them in four years. Positions four through nine had major chances. We just couldn't quite capitalize."

Against MIT, the match came down to the number five spot, where sophomore Dan Karlin lost to senior Engineer Rita Monson in a fifth game tie breaker 10-9.

"Dan was on the right track, he was playing a straight game, which is to his advantage," Eng said. "However, he slowed it down a bit, and his opponent started shooting for the front-court and that changed the momentum. It was a great match, we just came out on the short end."

Sophomore Spencer Maxwell won at the number two spot (9-4, 7-9, 9-1, 9-7), while Busse, junior Fernando Kriete, and Linz also picked up victories.

On the same day, the Jumbos also fell to Brown, the tenth ranked team in the nation.

Despite their tough week, the Jumbos are still primed for their matches against Trinity and Wesleyan this Wednesday. Wesleyan is a key match for the Jumbos because it could determine where Tufts stands going into the playoffs. A victory could mean a spot in the C flight, where play is more competitive. A loss may put Tufts in the D flight which would not pose the same competition, but would offer a chance at bringing home some hardware.

"Playing in the C flight would be great because it would be a nice challenge for us," Kolasinski said. "But if we do lose, playing in the D flight won't be so bad because we can do some real damage in that bracket."

The Jumbos also have no illusions about what they will face in Trinity, a national squash powerhouse currently ranked number one in the country.

"Trinity's team is incredibly good," Kolasinski said. "They were featured on Sports Center last week because they have 100 consecutive wins. It's sort of honor to play them because all the pros have played there, but at the same time it's sort of joke. But we have fun against them."