Squash fans will be seeing lots of red clash this weekend as both the men’s and women’s teams head to Cambridge to take on Harvard’s Crimson players tomorrow. Harvard’s teams are very highly ranked, with the men presently No. 2 in the country, and the women ranked third.
“We’re going to have our hands full,” said head coach Scott Stoneburgh. “Each team has been working super hard. We plan on getting in there and doing our best.”
Just before Thanksgiving break, the men suffered their first loss at the hands of Princeton, after beating Penn and North-Western Ontario just the day before. Although Stoneburgh knows that emerging victorious over the Crimson this weekend is “a bit of a long shot,” he does believe it will be a good match, as the Red almost beat Harvard last year at home. Currently, the men are ranked fifth in the nation, and look at this weekend as an opportunity to move up.
Cornell’s women’s team is still trailing behind this season, having yet to come out on top in a match. However, Stoneburgh blames the schedule of opponents for the defeats, noting that for the first half of the season, every team the girls faced was in the top five. For the women, presently ranked 13th in the nation, it had naturally been a struggle.
“It’s still early. In January and February, the girls will really start to shine as we face teams ranked a little lower. Nine or 10 would be an ideal spot for the girls to get into,” said Stoneburgh of the women’s team.
The coach remains confident that the women will break into the top 10 by the end of the season. As for the men, he would also like to see improvement by the time the season ends.
Only time will tell how each team’s season will pan out. This weekend’s matches are the last before the players will get a month-long break from competitions to finish off their academic semesters and enjoy winter recess. The next match occurs on Jan. 17, when both the men and women will head to Providence, RI to tale on Brown.
Archived article by Julie Heckman