Winning doesn’t always come down to who practiced more or who has more talent. Sometimes, it just comes down to luck.

The women’s squash team lost to Trinity, 5-4, in a nail-biting match Tuesday evening at the Kellner Center in Hartford, Conn. The defeat was the Bulldogs’ first loss in seven matches and ended their five-game winning streak against the Bantams. Team members said that the opposing squads were well-balanced, and that the course of events simply did not favor the Elis.

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The Elis, three-time defending national champions currently ranked No. 2 in the nation, dropped to a 6-2 season record after the match.

Team members said the players were pleased with their performance despite the loss.

“Everyone played amazingly and gave it everything today,” Sarah Barenbaum ’08 said. “[The players] put their hearts in. I can’t pinpoint anything specific that went wrong. It was just a close match and they ended up winning.”

Trinity, ranked No. 3 in the nation, improved its record to 9-0 with the victory.

After early wins at the top of the ladder and with just two matches left to play, the Bulldogs led, 4-3, but were eventually overpowered by the depth in the Bantams’ lineup.

“In the past, we’ve had some really close matches that went our way, but today they didn’t,” Catherine McLeod ’07 said. “We lost but we lost well.”

Captain Kate Rapisarda ’07, Alia Aziz ’10 and Lauren McCrery ’07 all took their opponents into extremely close, five-game matches, but eventually fell just short.

The players said that even though the final result was not in their favor, the Elis are more than capable of keeping pace with the Bantams.

“I don’t think [Trinity] is a better team. We are every bit as good as they are,” McCrery said. “The close matches show that even though we did lose, we are right there with them … It could have swung the other way on any other given day.”

No. 1 McLeod and No. 2 Miranda Ranieri ’08 both won their matches, as did Jessica Balderston ’09 and Tara Wadhwa ’09.

“I’m really proud of our team,” McLeod said. “[Ranieri] had an awesome match. She fought hard to come back and played like a real fighter. [Rapisarda] put her heart in as well.”

The Bulldogs will be back in action this Saturday and Sunday when they host the Yale Round Robin, and they resume Ivy play on Feb. 3 against Princeton at the Brady Squash Center.

Barenbaum said the loss has not dimmed the team’s conference prospects.

“We’re in the midst of our season, and the league is extremely close,” she said. “We can put this behind us, and this is not the end of our season by any means. We have a lot of matches left and we’re really excited for the challenge.”