All good streaks must come to an end.

Unfortunately for the Harvard men's squash team (6-1), its 91-match home-court winning streak came to a screeching halt Saturday with an 8-1 loss to No. 2 Trinity. However, this was not entirely unexpected, as Harvard was the underdog coming into the match. TRINITY (WOMEN)  1 HARVARD  8 TRINITY (MEN)  8 HARVARD  1

"A lot of people expected us to lose immediately," said co-captain Tim Wyant. "But we won one or two games in five different matches, and every match down the ladder was close. The score is a little deceptive."

In front of an unusually large crowd of 1,150 the Harvard men's and women's squash teams battled their toughest foe, Trinity, at the Murr Center.

While the men experienced their first home loss since February 6, 1982, the Crimson women (7-0) prevailed with a convincing 8-1 victory.

The closest matches in the men's competition proved to be at the No. 1 and No.2 slots. Playing at the No. 1 position, sophomore Deepak Abraham met the two-time defending national champion in Trinity's Marcus Cowie. Winning the first game, Abraham put Cowie in an unfamiliar position, However, Cowie regained his magical touch as he won the next three games to capture the victory.

Filling the No. 2 slot for Harvard was Wyant, who boasted an undefeated record last year for the Crimson. After jumping out to an early lead on Saturday by winning the first two games, Wyant dropped the next three to suffer a close 3-2 defeat.

"I played well in the first two games." Wyant said. "But my opponent improved in the last three games and I lost some energy. Like any loss, it was disappointing."

The Harvard men's lone victory came from freshman Peter Karlen, playing at the No.5 position. Karlen, ranked No. 13 in the nation as a senior in high school, defeated his opponent by a 3-1 margin.

"[Karlen] played outstanding," Wyant said.

With this match behind it, Harvard now focuses on the Ivy League title. First up for the Crimson is its next home match, this Tuesday against Amherst. Then, it's on to Ivy League competition, as it travels to Penn and Princeton the weekend of Feb. 13

With Trinity in a perfect position to win the regular season national championship, Harvard now looks to win the Ivy League and possibly the postseason tournament, to share the national title.

The Harvard women, ranked No.1 nationally, soundly defeated Trinity, the No.4 team in the country, by a score of 8-1, putting themselves in an excellent position to win the regular-season national championship.

"Right now, our team is playing terrific squash," said captain Brooke Herlihy. "We have been working hard all season, and we are really beginning to see the benefits in match play."

Harvard cruised to victories in the No.2 through No.9 positions, dropping only one game along the way. The line-up, from No.1 to No.10, for the Crimson consisted of freshman Margaret Elias, Herlihy, junior Stephanie Teaford, senior Lindsay Wilber, freshman Colby Hall, senior Leah Ramella, junior Blair Endresen, sophomore Virginia Brown, and junior Frances Holland.

The single defeat for the women came at the No.1 position. Elias, currently ranked No.9 nationally, fell to fifth-ranked Trinity sophomore Jeanine Thompson by a 3-0 margin.

"Everyone did a great job competing," Herlihy said. "We can now go into the Penn and Princeton weekend, the two most crucial regular season matches for us, with a lot of confidence."

After traveling to Penn, and Princeton this coming weekend, Harvard will host the Howe Cup at the Murr Center the following weekend, Feb. 19-21. The Howe Cup is the women's national championship, and every school sends ten players to this event. It is the single most important tournament of the year for the Crimson.

"We hope to see a lot of squash fans out there supporting us." Herlihy said.