Racketmen Blank Impotent Cornell

Harvard's squash team opened its campaign for the Ivy crown by soundly defeating Cornell, 9-0 yesterday.

In the past three years, the Cornell match has provided the varsity with little more than a practice session, and the contest at Ithaca was no exception. Never in serious trouble, the Crimson nine registered convincing victories in each match.

Dave Benjamin, playing in the number five position, took 4 games to win his match. He won the first two with comparative ease, 15-12 and 15-8, but opponent Mark Green pulled out the third, 15-12, Benjamin then rallied to clinch the fourth and deciding game, 15-12.

All the other Harvard players won in three straight games.

Number-one player Romer Holleran overpowered Joseph Freidman, 15-6, 15-4, 15-10. Terry Robinson, in the number two slot, won a similarly easy match, 15-10, 15-7, 15-10.

The victory prolonged Harvard's winning streak to 32 matches. Army, however, will pose a major threat to this string when it meets the Crimson Saturday. Although shutting out Cornell revealed no weak links in Harvard's lineup, it proved very little about the team's chances against the far superior competition Army will provide.

In a match with Andover yesterday. Jose Gonzleas and Rick Stern won straight-game matches to lead the freshman squad to a 5-2 victory.