Hockey Team Plays B.U. Tonight; Win Essential to N.C.A.A. Chances

The varsity hockey team with a 4 and 8 season's record, will face off tonight against B.U., the top team in the East at 11 and 1. The game will start at 9 p.m. at the Boston Arena and should be a tossup.

The most interesting feature of this game will be to see how much, if any, the varsity has improved since its loss to the Terriers a month ago. At that early point in the season, B.U. was definitely the better hockey team and thoroughly deserved its 6-3 victory. Since then, however, the Crimson has improved noticeably to the point where both Harry Cleverly, the B.U. coach, and Cooney Weiland, the varsity coach, rate this evening's contest as an even one.

Tonight's game is the Crimson's last chance to validate its claim for a berth at the NCAA championships later this year. A loss to the Terriers at this point would put the Crimson out of the picture, as it has already lost once to B.U. as well as to St. Lawrence. Moreover, the Terriers have a chance on Feb. 22 to avenge an earlier defeat by the Larries, while the varsity will have to content itself with Ivy League and other less formidable opposition.

As a hockey team, B.U. has no real weakness unless it is in its lack of depth at defense. The Terrier's first line of Tony Cicoria, Bob Marquis, and Sarge Kinlin is one of the best in the East and has played excellent hockey this season. Marquis, at center, is the team's top scorer, and with 28 points for the season is second only in the East to the varsity's Bob Cleary. Cleary, with 30 points, was behind Marquis until the Crimson's 7-2 defeat of Princeton on Saturday, when Cleary scored five points to take the lead.

Bob Dupuis and Dave MacLeod will start at defense for the Terriers and if they are in their usual top form, the varsity is in for a rough evening. This pair made the All-East team last year and has played fine hockey all year.

The goalies, however, will be the two players that may decide the game. The Terriers Harry Tansey was "unconscious" in the first Varsity-B.U. game and made several incredible saves. He was not quite so effective against St. Lawrence but there can be little questioning the fact that he is a good goalie. The question is how good.

The varsity, on the other hand, is in worse shape on the goalie problem. Neither Tab Cleary or Harry Pratt has really proven his worth as varsity goalie this year and until one of the two starts performing well, Weiland has to alternate them. It is not even known now who will start tonight, but the best guess would be Pratt, who played against Princeton last Saturday.

The rest of the Crimson picture is considerably brighter. Its defense has more depth than B.U.'s, as Ed Owen and Bob McVey along with Dan Ullyot and Dick McLaughlin form two equally potent combinations.

Weiland's changes in the first three lines have been very effective, as the varsity's 15 goals in its last two games show. The first line of Cleary, Lyle Guttu, and Terry O'Malley looked very good indeed against Tufts and Princeton, scoring an imposing 14 goals in the two games. O'Malley, who started out on the third line this year, has fitted in very well with Cleary and Guttu, and is now one of the real scoring threats on the team.

The second line of Bruce Gillie, Mike Graney, and Dave Vietze is another of Weiland's innovations that has proved successful. Gillie, a former wing, has looked very well at center of this line, and Graney has been scoring consistently.