Booters Tackle MIT Today in Brown Tune-Up

Traditionally, the MIT soccer game has been an easy-sailing season's opener for Harvard, a tune-up for the rest of the year. The combined score of the last three years' games is Harvard 7, MIT 0.

But, this season, the Crimson will face a potentially tough MIT squad when the Engineers come to the Business School field this afternoon in make-up of September 24th's rained out game.

"They won't be a total pushover like they have been in the past," Crimson halfback-forward Mark Zimering said yesterday. "They beat Bowdoin, who beat Williams, and we lost to Williams," explained Zimering, who scored the lone goal in last year's 1-0 win over MIT.

Better Now

Harvard's leading scorer, Dave Acorn, said yesterday that although "MIT probably isn't that good, their team might be better at this stage than if we had played them at the beginning of the season."

On the other hand, Acorn said that "our lineup at this stage is much stronger, too." The high-scoring striker explained, "The ball's coming up for the forwards in a more logical manner, so I think there will be more scoring opportunities and more scores."

One of the reasons the Crimson forwards are receiving the ball better is Coach George Ford's strategy of playing Lyman Bullard at midfield. Ford shifted Bullard from forward to halfback against Princeton last Saturday because, Ford said, "We seemed to have been lacking generalship at the position. "The move paid off as Harvard downed the Tigers, 2-1.

Both Bullard and Zimering view today's MIT game as an opportunity for the players to become more familiar with the new strategy as the team prepares for Friday's crucial Ivy League contest against Brown at Providence.

"It should be a good game as far as solidifying the position changes we've made," Bullard said yesterday. Zimering said the game should help "in getting used to playing with each other and gaining some confidence for Brown."

Important to Win

Although Ford said yesterday that "it's important that we get a win in [today] before the Brown game," he doesn't want his players to overlook the importance of the non-league MIT contest.

"MIT usually has had some talented ballplayers," Ford said. "They're one of those teams I hope we don't take too lightly, but I think the guys realize it's an important game," he added.

Ford hopes that after the inspiring Princeton win, his forwards will improve upon their low-scoring performances. "Up front, we've got quite a bit of talent and we're getting quite a few scoring chances, but it's a matter of getting the ball into the net," Ford said. "We just haven't clicked."

Crash

"I hope we can crash somebody before the season's out," Ford said, "and we'll be all out to win this game before we head down to Brown." And maybe do a little crashing as well.