M. squash season preview | With no Gilly, Lane to success may narrow

One year removed from a No. 5 final ranking, the Quakers enter this season looking for similar achievements.

"It adds a little more pressure," coach Craig Thorpe-Clark said. "Excellence is no longer hoped for; it is expected."

Still, there are many questions entering the season. With the loss of four-time All-Ivy and All-American Gilly Lane - who is now giving pro squash a try - and six other seniors, the program will have to rely on the talents of many young and inexperienced players.

"He was a great leader," Thorpe-Clark said of Lane. "Those are big shoes to fill."

Potential shoe-fillers include five freshmen on the roster, three of whom- - James Clark, Porter Drake and William Browne - are already in the team's top nine.

"This year's freshmen will have a big impact on our success," Thorpe-Clark said. "I'm delighted with their standard of play, attitude and commitment."

Captains Ryan Rayfield and Lee Rosen, the latter of whom won a tournament in New York earlier this season, agree that leadership from older players is important for the young team.

"We're here ... for support and guidance," Rayfield said. "We've got to make sure everyone stays focused."

Thorpe-Clark actually thinks the team has room to improve on last year.

"We're just as deep as we were last year," he said. "The goal is to match or beat last year's performance.

"Even though it's an individual game, the emphasis has been on the team," Thorpe-Clark said.

The team traveled to Yale this weekend past to play in the Ivy Scrimmages. Thorpe-Clark thought his young team performed well, even in a 9-0 loss to the Bulldogs.

"We showed a lot of heart and a lot of commitment," Rayfield said. "Motivation is high."

Penn opens its regular season on Saturday with a doubleheader at Cornell. The Quakers will face off against the Big Red and Western Ontario, two teams that finished last season ranked in the Collegiate Squash Association top 10.

"These are tough matches," Rosen said. It's shaping up to be "a mentally draining weekend."

The team has the "drive to win quickly and decisively," Rayfield said. "Both matches are winnable if everyone does their part."

This weekend provides the team with a good opportunity to get its younger players in-game experience before facing Yale in a marquee Ivy League matchup on Dec. 1. Given how hard it is to knock off a better team in college squash, they'll need it.

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