Skaters Host Weak Princeton; Ivy Title Hopes All But Lost

Harvard's hockey varsity opens the last and probably the easiest week of its regular season tonight when Princeton invades Watson at 8 p.m. Saturday the Crimson faces Yale at Boston Garden in its last contest before the ECAC's.

Harvard should have little difficulty in closing the year on a happy note. The skaters finally found themselves Saturday night when Gene Kinasewich led a 12-2 massacre of Yale.

The popular captain scored his 106th Harvard point at New Haven leaving him second only to Bob Cleary (195) in Crimson history. Ike Ikauniks is also making a run on Harvard's ten all-time leading scorers. "Romy," as the Yale public address announcer called him, got four points Saturday to leave him with a three-year total of 82, just two shy of the current tenth best.

With a 7-11 overall record and a 2-6 Ivy mark, the Tigers figure to offer little resistance to such scoring power tonight. Two weeks ago Harvard singed a strong third-period rally to overcome Princeton, 6-2.

The results of this week's Crimson contests will be academic as far as the Ivy League race goes. Five games remain to be played in the league, and only if the right team wins each one will Harvard tie Dartmouth.

Assuming victories over Princeton and Yale, Harvard will finish at 7-3. Dartmouth is now 7-1, so it must drop home games to Brown and Cornell to come down to Harvard's level. But in this event Brown, now 5-2-1, would have to lose at Princeton to finish below the Crimson.

Champs Again?

Harvard's hopes for next week's ECAC Tournament are considerably brighter. The skaters are confident that if they can maintain the style of play that over-powered Yale Saturday, they can repeat last year's Eastern championship.

Harvard's chance of getting one of the top four seeds in the tourney, and consequently the advantage of home ice in the first round next Tuesday has increased in the last week. Boston College bowed to Boston University and Clarkson lost to St. Lawrence as both fell below Harvard in the Eastern standings.

The Crimson's 13.6 mark against Eastern competition is only fifth best in the East. However, Dartmouth and RPI, currently third and fourth both have had considerably easier schedules than the Crimson's. Providence and Army first and second in the ECAC, are certain to get two of the top seeds.

But before Harvard can start worrying about next week. It has to concentrate on Princeton. The Crimson hasn't lost to the Tigers in their last 21 meetings, though, and isn't likely to halt this tread tonight.