The NESCAC Invitational brought together all 11 conference members for the first time ever in a tournament format. While the act was well-intentioned, Amherst was forced to play predictable rematches with the 16th-ranked Jumbos (seeded eighth in the tournament) and the number-seven Ephs (seeded second). Typically, the Jeffs play five or six NESCAC teams between regular-season play, Little Threes and nationals. Going into this year's tournament, Amherst had already defeated Tufts, Bates College, Bowdoin College and Wesleyan University and had lost to Williams at Little Threes. That left Trinity, Hamilton, Middlebury, Connecticut and Colby Colleges as possible new opponents.
While Amherst didn't get the benefit of seeing some fresh faces, none of these opponents would have provided much competition. Trinity, the tournament's top-seeded team and the number-one squad in the nation, skated through the tournament without dropping an individual match. The Bantams have the longest winning streak in intercollegiate sports, which they stretched to 139 victories after Sunday's 9-0 defeat of the Ephs in the finals. The Jeffs probably would have seen the same lopsided scores had they faced the Continentals, Panthers, Camels or the White Mules, all of whom are ranked 19th or below. Indeed, the only close matches in the entire tournament took place between Hamilton and Conn. (Hamilton 5, Conn. 4) and Bates and Bowdoin (Bates 5, Bowdoin 4).
Due to the weather, Sunday's consolation games were called off. Amherst would have faced Bates (ranked 13th in the country and seeded fifth in the tournament) in a rematch of a Jan. 10 outing in which the Jeffs squeaked by with a 5-4 win. Because the match was not played, Amherst had to settle with a tie for third place in the conference.
In a warm-up before NESCACs, the men fought hard at Yale on Wednesday, despite surrendering by a score of 9-0 to the Bulldogs. Four Jeffs took one game in their matches: sophomore Mark Rapisarda on the second court, junior co-captain Auloke Mathur on the third court, junior Stu Landesberg on the sixth court and junior Craig McCready on the eighth court.
The team season comes to a close this weekend at Princeton University as Amherst competes for the Hoehn Cup with the ninth- through 16th-ranked teams in the nation at the College Squash Association Team Championships. The Jeffs should face 14th-ranked Bowdoin in the first round, a team the Jeffs beat 6-3 on Jan. 11. A win could potentially earn Amherst a rematch with Brown University, the number-10 team in the country. The Bears beat the Jeffs 7-2 on Jan. 24.
We are definitely all playing well right now," Landesberg said, "and I think that a lot of us look at our probable rematch with Brown at nationals as a defining moment for our season. That match represents a spot in the top ten nationally and is one we know we can win."