Egg in Your Beer

Travel may be broadening, but as far as Harvard lacrosse teams are concerned, it can be pretty flattening, too. Every spring, the varsity embarks on a vacation-long automobile safari to the South. Travelling 1,000 miles in cramped cars is tiring under any circumstances; likewise sleeping in different locations each night. When the team has to combine these transportational problems with the fatigue induced from daily lacrosse, its stamina and performance must inevitably suffer.

So, although the Crimson generally managed to beat some of the weaker clubs, the more powerful teams--like Navy and Maryland--used to pound it unmercifully.

They don't anymore.

Coach Bruce Munro and his 1952 squad have changed things. Playing under these same abysmal conditions, this Crimson outfit held Maryland to a mere six goals (1951 score: 14 to 2; 1950: 17 to 2) and almost beat Navy, barely losing, 8 to 7 (1951 score 14 to 3; 1950: 15 to 0).

Munro frankly admits that he doesn't know just what caused the change, confessing candidly, "I didn't think we were that good. This club plays better as a team than last year's," and the 1951 squad was New England champion. "The fellows work together a lot better; and they've got spirit, too."

It might be added parenthetically that the Crimson has a good coach, also. A veteran lacrosse writer for one of the southern papers called this "the best coached Harvard team I've ever seen."

The Crimson started the trip a nonentity, and ended by drawing a huge crowd to the final--and best--game against Navy.

"We almost had it," Munro says. "We surprised them, and at one stage were leading, 5 to 0. The defense was going well, goalie Dick Thomas came up with some fine saves, and the midfields were controlling the hall. But at the end, we just plain ran out of gas."

Most Crimson fans were puzzled by the fact that the Crimson could gain only a 4 to 4 tie with lightly-regarded Hofstra, although Harvard later did so well against Maryland and Navy--clubs which had earlier pounded northern powers Dartmouth and Williams.

"Hofstra was only our second game," says Munro. "I think the boys were still a bit stiff. Besides, Hofstra threw up a zone defense; we'd never seen anything like that, and couldn't get our attack going."

Southern coaches were most enthusiastic about the Crimson's play--although naturally unpleasantly surprised. They seemed to think the varsity far superior to the other barnstorming northern teams. And they tended to agree with Munro's sober statement:

"I'm not making any excuses, but if we played Navy and Washington (which nipped the Crimson, 13 to 11) up here in regular Saturday games . . . well, I think maybe we'd be able to take them."

It looks like those of us who are accustomed to watching winning lacrosse will have another pleasant spring.