Swimmers, Icemen Face Vengeful Bruins Today

The Harvard hockey team takes its last shred of pretension down to Providence. R.I., tonight for a 7:30 Ivy League contest with Cornell-killer Brown. Less than a month ago, the Crimson clobbered the Bruins, 7-3, but tonight Harvard must be considered an underdog.

What has happened in the space of three and a half weeks to reverse the reles? Harvard's personnel is no weaker--in fact it is stronger. The elevation of Dwight Ware and George McManama to regular turns has given the Crimson its highest-scoring line, at least against weak opposition like Penn and Sir George Williams. And Bob Higgins, who was an unknown last month, has proven himself a capable goaltender able to supplement December's star, Bill Diercks.

It is not farfetched to say that Harvard has better material than any Eastern team except Cornell. But psychologically the Crimson players rank near the bottom. Since they choked in their big game with Cornell three weeks ago, their confidence has been shot and their bright prospects have dimmed drastically.

Last year Harvard beat Brown in December then lost at Providence, 9-1. If tonight's game has a similar outcome, then Harvard can throw away its hopes for another year. If the Crimson can pull out of its slump, then the Ivy title and one of the ECAC top four playoff seedings are still possibilities.

It is that simple.

Brown is not a great team, but it has enjoyed phenominal success against Cornell. In both teams' Ivy opener, the Bruins won. 6-3. That performance was rated Brown's best, just as its Harvard loss is generally considered its worst.

In the ECAC Holiday Festival in New York, Brown best St. Lawrence in a sloppy semifinal, then scared Cornell before falling in the final, 3-2. Last Saturday the two teams met in Ithaca, and once again the Big Red had to fight for a 3-2 decision.

Sophomore Curt Bennett is on his way to leading the East's defensemen in scoring (with 8 goals, 14 assists), and Wayne Small is regaining his All Ivy form, but Brown can still be awful--as it was when it beat Vermont by only one goal last week.

The two school's freshman squads meet at Brown at 3:30 today, while the J.V. teams play in Watson Rink at 4 p.m.

WHRB will broadcast the varsity game beginning at 7:25.