Icemen Encounter Indians; Crimson Is Clear Favorite

Dartmouth's hockey coach. Grant Sandbrook, expects to make his team a winner by "faith and courage, self-confidence, persistence, self-discipline, and above all, supreme effort."

The only thing he lacks is a good team. It's going to take more than "faith and courage" to build a team that finished last year with a 9 and 15 record into a winning team.

Despite their virtuous qualities, the Indians dropped their opener to the University of New Hampshire, 6-4, and they should make it two in a row tonight against Harvard.

Coming off a 12-0 slaughter of North-eastern and the news of Cornell's first less in two years, the Crimson is flying. Harvard is a clear favorite to win its Ivy League opener, even though it will have to play before a Saturday night crowd in Hanover that lacks the moral rectitude of the Dartmouth team.

Dartmouth does have a better team than it did last year. Sandbrook coached three freshman teams to a 48-15 record and brought several excellent sophomores off an 18-3 team with him when he moved up to the varsity this year.

Those sophomores join a nucleus of 12 returning lettermen, including last season's top point scorer, Mike Turner, and top goal getter, Jeff Kosak. There are six sophomores on the first three lines and the first two defensive pairs.

The Crimson's '69-70 freshman team, which beat Dartmouth twice en route to a 20-1 season, has also produced a few talented sophomores, however, and they have joined a team that is unquestionably better than the Indians.

Harvard's high scoring attack, which has accounted for 23 goals in two games, could have a field day against a Dartmouth defense that Sandbrook describes as a "question mark."

Dartmouth's only chance appears to lie in its ability to score on the Crimson's untested defense. Three of Harvard's top four defensemen are seeing varsity action for the first time this year, and they may have a difficult time containing a decent Indian offensive threat.

Harvard smashed Dartmouth twice last year, 6-1 and 8-1.