Weekend Preview: Kicking off the Head of the Charles

Harvard hosts the 46th annual Head of the Charles Regatta this weekend. It’s one of the biggest Harvard athletic events of the year and something you definitely don’t want to miss…no matter how early in the morning it starts.

Over 9,000 athletes from around the globe come to Cambridge to compete in 60 rowing events, and all four Harvard crew teams will be competing: men’s heavyweight and lightweight and women’s heavyweight and lightweight. Events start around 9 a.m. tomorrow, but the men’s and the women’s heavyweight squads will compete tomorrow afternoon—with the championship fours and eights on Sunday afternoon—and the lightweight teams will compete later that day.

The Harvard football team travels to Princeton this weekend to take on the Tigers tomorrow at 1 p.m. in the Crimson’s third conference game of the season. Last weekend, Harvard lost a nail-biter to Lehigh, 21-19, bringing its overall season record to 3-2. Last season, The Crimson dominated Princeton with its impressive offensive and defense, taming the Tigers, 37-3. If Harvard can maintain that form, we should see another win added to the Crimson’s tally.

The women’s soccer team is also traveling to Princeton for a conference match tomorrow afternoon. Currently, the women stand at 5-6-1 and have a two-game losing streak, including a 2-1 overtime loss to Siena on Tuesday. Harvard is fourth in the Ivy League, while Princeton stands at second. Last season, the Crimson lost to the Tigers, 1-0.

The men’s soccer squad travels with the women’s team to go up against the Tigers as well Sunday afternoon. The men have a 4-4-5 record, including a 2-1 loss to Boston College on Tuesday and two double-overtime ties with Cornell and Brown. The Crimson holds a 1-0-2 Ivy record, which puts the team in third place in the conference. Even though the squad is winless in three matches, history bodes well for Harvard. In the last seven meetings, the men have a 5-1-1 record against Princeton.

The final team going to Princeton this weekend is the field hockey team, which will compete against the Tigers tomorrow at noon. Things looked slightly promising when the women snapped a five-game losing streak earlier in the season, but the squad has fallen into another five-game losing rut. The Harvard squad will have to step up its game to rival Princeton: Princeton is 10-3 for the season and 4-0 in the Ivy League.

For the third time this season, the men’s water polo team battles against MIT. The men will travel to MIT tonight for the tiebreaker game in the series. The Engineers won the first battle barely, 7-6, but the Crimson struck back with a 10-8 victory. Harvard holds a two-game winning steak, which bodes well for its momentum going into the match tonight.

In other Harvard sports happenings this weekend, the women’s volleyball team takes on Yale at home tonight and then Brown tomorrow evening. The women’s ice hockey team also kicks off its season in its first exhibition match against McGill. The women’s tennis squad travels to Hanover, N.H. for the ITA Northeast Regional Championships, nearing the end of its individual season. Finally, the cross-country team competes in the Mayor’s Cup at Franklin Park in Boston.