Racquetmen Visit Yale, Look for National Title

It's just like old times.

Very old times.

We're talking about the days when Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman were in the White House.

The days of World World II.

In other words, it's been a long time since the Harvard and Yale men's squash match was a rivalry.

The rivalry revives itself this afternoon in New Haven when the Crimson (10-0 overall, 3-0 Ivy) faces the host Elis (11-1, 2-1). A Harvard victory would give the Crimson both the Ivy League and national championships for the sixth straight year. It would also extend Harvard's winning streak to 69 games.

"I think it's really exciting to be in this position at this time or the year," Harvard Coach Dave Fish said. "At the beginning of the season, we didn't have any reason to believe that we would be playing for the national championship."

This year the match promises to be closest one since the 1961 thriller when the Elis edged the Crimson 5-4, marking the last time Yale defeated Harvard. Both teams have excellent players from one to nine. Yale has gradually improved under the guidance of Coach Dave Talbott.

"We haven't beaten Harvard in 26 years," Talbott said. "We're definitely the underdogs. This the first year we have a reasonable shot of beating them."

"If we beat Harvard, our alumni will probably send us to New Zealand," Talbott jokingly added.

Last year, the Crimson recorded a 9-0 decision over Yale. But in the pre-season Ivy League tournament, the Elis captured a 6-3 victory against Harvard. However, the racquetmen were missing Darius Pandole, Jon Bernheimer and Doug Lifford.

"I'm very excited about the match," Co-Captain Jack Polsky said. "It's going to be an intense match. "We're hoping to silence the gallery."

Yale's only loss was a 6-3 decision to Princeton in mid-February.

"It should be a great match," said George Polsky, the only freshman playing for the Crimson. "I've played in a lot of matches before, but nothing like this."

Dominance

The racquetmen have won the Ivy title 21 times since 1956 and have gone undefeated 20 times in Ivy play.

"First of all, I'm confident we're going to trash them," Jim Masland said. "If I listen to Jim Morrison for 20 hours I can beat anyone."

"We're up for it," Bernheimer said. "We know it's going to be tough down there--but we're definitely ready."