Ruggers Score 11-6 Upset Over Top-Ranked Cornell

The Harvard rugby team fashioned the upset of the year Saturday, by defeating Cornell, the first-ranked team in the East, 11-6.

The Harvard eleven out-tackled, out-kicked and just plain out-hustled the ruggers from Ithaca, as the Crimson attack began to really jell for the first time this spring.

The return of Chuck Strozier to the lineup remedied the team's past inability to win control of the ball in scrums and lineouts. Strozier especially looked good on lineouts where his jumping ability made him look like Chris Pardee.

With Strozier's help on lineouts and hooker John Rice's fine play in the scrum, the offense controlled the ball most of the game. Cornell drew first blood, however, on a scissors play, a maneuver where the scrum half and fly half make a pincers-like movement on an outside defenseman.

Freshman Steve Zietlin tied the score a few minutes later as he smothered an attempted kick deep in the opponents' territory and fell on the ball for a try. Freshman Dick Domingue, who played brilliantly in his fist game at fullback, kicked the two-point conversion to put Harvard in the lead, 5-3.

In the second half football player Pete Peterson blocked a Cornell kick near the try line and Rich Hammond, captain of the soccer team, jumped on the loose ball to give Harvard a five-point lead.

Cornell threatened to steal back the victory as they got three points on a try to close within two. But Domingue, whose long high kicks kept the Crimson out of trouble all day, iced the win with a penalty kick.

Until Saturday's upset, Cornell hadn't been beaten by a college rugby team in two years and was undefeated this season both against colleges and clubs. The Big Red had even been compared to California, the team ranked number-one by national consensus.