But even without two of its strongest players, Harvard coasted past the Quakers 8-1. The Crimson reverted to its pre-Trinity form and beat up a clearly inferior opponent.

“It was nice to get back on track,” Hochberg said. “We got to put Trinity behind us and start with a clean slate.”

Intercollegiate No. 4 senior Michael Blumberg, who had the only Crimson victory against Trinity at the No. 4 position, played his first match of the year at the No. 1 spot. Blumberg found himself in the most competitive match of the afternoon playing against Penn’s premier player, Gilly Lane. But Blumberg fought through the fatigue of playing two pressure matches in three days and managed to remain undefeated on the year, pulling out 9-0 victory in the fifth game and winning 3-2.

Elsewhere, the Crimson regulars preformed flawlessly. Broadbent bounced back from his unexpected loss against Trinity to beat the Quakers’ Rich Repetto in straight games. But Broadbent tweaked a knee injury that had bothered him earlier in the fall and would be forced to sit out against Princeton yesterday.

The sole loss for Harvard came at the No. 9 spot, where senior Ryan Abraham dropped a tough five-game match to Will Simonton. It was Abraham’s first competitive action of the year, as he filled in for the resting Suchde and Oren.

—Staff writer David H. Stearns can be reached at stearns@fas.harvard.edu.