Racquetmen Massacre MIT, 9-0

It wasn't supposed to be a tough match--and it wasn't.

For MIT, it was a chance to achieve one of the biggest dreams possible--breaking the Harvard men's squash team's 70-game winning streak.

For Harvard, it was just another trip down the road to success.

Harvard, the nation's number-one ranked team, walloped MIT, 9-0, last night at DuPont gymnasium.

For the 46th straight time, the racquetmen (2-0) proved to be the Engineers' worst nightmare. Freddy Krueger would be jealous.

Harvard's victory increased its winning streak to 71 straight victories--the longest in Harvard history.

"The hardest thing to do when you're playing a much less experienced team is to keep up your concentration," Harvard's Charles Dowling said.

Each of the nine players, five of whom play on the JV team, won their matches in straight games.

"The only close game was when Jon Bernheimer started off not playing so well and just barely beat his opponent," freshman Jon Kaye said. "But he completely outplayed him in the next two games."

Despite the fact that the team is quite young, with three freshman and two sophomores, Harvard Assistant Coach Jon Anz said that the games were "fairly one-sided."

"Jonathon Kaye, our freshman from Israel," Anz said, "is doing just beautifully. He's adapting to the hard-ball game better than anyone I've ever seen."

MIT has never been a squash powerhouse, and for this reason doesn't attract the nationally-ranked players as does Harvard. Although the Crimson annually trounces the team down the road, it still continues to play MIT because it gives the younger players a chance to see varsity competition.

"It gives the guys a chance to work on things without the threat of imminent loss," Anz said.

The racquetmen's next match will be at Williams January 11.

Since the Ephmen have only defeated Harvard once in their 42 matches, the Crimson hopes to make short work of Williams.

"The bottom line is that we look to do very well," Anz said.

THE NOTEBOOK During Harvard's current 71-game winning streak, the Crimson has won 591 individual matches, while surrendering only 49...Harvard now holds a 46-0 lead over MIT...The Crimson has also recorded 36 shutouts against the Engineers...Against MIT, the racquetmen have won 374 individual matches, while only losing 11...The first match between the two schools was 1933, with Harvard winning 5-0.