The Men’s squash team fell by an 8-1 margin to Connecticut College in the last match of the fall last Saturday. The Cards struggled all around against the Camels, as the Cards were shut out in four of the eight losses, and won only four games in total. The lone bright spot for the team was Robert Bradfoot ’10, who won handily by a 3-0 score while giving up just five total points.
The freshman has come on strong for the Cardinals by winning his first two matches at the number two spot. Broadfoot battled back from a 2-1 game deficit to win his first match in the Cardinals season opening match back on Nov. 18 against Northeastern University. The match was also an 8-1 loss with only 6 games won in total.
The men will have a whole month to think about and draw lessons from last Saturday, as they do not compete again until early January.
“Every match is another learning experience,” said Benjie Messenger-Barnes ’09. “Last Saturday’s match just highlighted what we needed to work on and what we need to get better. The team will see no match competition until the Dartmouth Snowflake Invitational Tournament rolls around on Jan. 6.
”[The Snowflake Tournament] is more of a fun tournament,“ said Messenger-Barnes, ”because it counts on individual rather than team records. It’s a low pressure event, so it will be a good way to come back from vacation.“
The tournament will cut the winter break short for the squash team, but the team hopes the extra preparation will help energize the team in the second semester.
”Coming back early will be a good way to get a lot of practice in before the season kicks up again,“ said Nate Fowles ’10. ”Lately we’ve been working on a lot of technique work that we will soon be able to implement comfortably on the court.“
In January, the Cards look to improve their individual skills and abilities, where they hope to surpass the .500 mark.
”Squash is an interesting game because it is a team sport that is very individualized,“ said Daniel Charness ’10. ”No one can affect what another does on the court, but there are still definitely team components to it. We are still generally a young team, so we look to continue to practice hard and get better at both aspects of the game.“
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