Racquetmen Swing Past Williams, 7-2

An injury-plagued Harvard varsity squash team upped its record to 4-0 yesterday with a 7-2 spanking of Williams at Hemenway gym. The Crimson thus continued its long march to a February 3 bout with Princeton for the National title.

With number one player Mike Desaulniers and number four man George Bell sidelined due to ankle injuries, the Crimson had a tougher time with the Ephmen than expected. Crimson captain John Havens played well at the number one slot, despite a painful elbow injury, taking Williams senior Martin Goldberg to five games, before falling 15-11, 7-15, 15-7, 7-15, 12-15.

"I think John's elbow was really hurting," Goldberg said after his victory, "and that made the difference, because it was more John making the errors than me making the shots."

The closest match of the day came at number two. The Crimson's John Stubbs and Ephman Chip Lindquist slammed the slippery spheroid for the better part of two hours before Linquist prevailed, 15-10, 10-13, 10-15, 14-16, 15-12.

Lindquist, who knocked off Havens in five games last year, jumped to a 2-0 lead early in the match. The crafty Williams junior used a combination of three-wall nicks and rip corners to baffle the struggling Stubbs, who seemed to have a case of those reading period blues.

Stubbs surged back to take the third and fourth games, but the embattled Lindquist hung on for the win.

Number three man Mitch Reese got the Crimson back on track with a three game sweep of Williams senior John Saunders, while Chuck Elliott followed with a close win at number four, 10-15, 15-8, 15-18, 15-8, 15-7.

The Crimson's depth and superior conditioning in the lower positions proved the deciding factor in the match, as numbers five through nine dropped only three games to the Ephmen.

"We just weren't in good condition and I'm ticked off," Williams coach Shaun Sloan lamented. "My players came back from vacation fat and happy and it made a difference in a match that we had a chance of winning," he added.

John Fishwick squashed Williams' number five man Peter Thompson in four games, while sixth man Jeff Secrest outslugged Bill Miller, 18-13, 12-15, 17-15, 15-5, 15-10.

Freshmen Chip Robie, John Heller, and Joe Somers all swept their matches in three straight games to clinch the Crimson win.