Stickmen Seek Third Win In Ivy Opener With Penn

Harvard has a chance to start its trip back to Ivy League respectability today when its league season opens with a game in Philadelpphia against Penn, one of the weaker Ivy teams.

Last year was a dismal one for the Crimson, which lost a discouraging game to the Quakers and went on to finish next to last in the league.

In that game, Harvard led, 9-4, at half-time and, 10-8, with two minutes left, but eventually lost, 14-10, in overtime. It was one of many letdowns last season.

This year the Quakers are weak on attack, while the Crimson is stronger than it was last spring and has indicated by its early-season performance that it might play up to its potential.

Happy Klinefelter is the only Penn attack-man who was not graduated last June, and this year's sophomores have not helped the situation much. The Harvard defense, which is playing well lately, should not have too much trouble containing the Quakers as long as the Crimson controls the ball with some success. "We'll hold them to less than five goals," predicted crease defenseman Bill Bennett yesterday.

Just A Bit

Harvard's offense, however, will find it a bit more difficult to score against Penn than against Adelphi and M. I. T. In games with those two opponents, the Crimson racked up a total of 37 goals.

Defense is Penn's strong point, for what that's worth. Mike Cordish is a competent goalie, while Dave Pleuthener and Wapren McManus are able defensemen in front of him. But if Harvard has a good passing day, the Quakers will not have much success keeping the score down. Yale put in eight goals in last weekend's game against Penn, and Harvard can certainly score as well as the Elis.

Turning to the Midfield

Penn's midfield is only slightly more impressive than its attack. There are three lines of almost equal talent, so the Quakers are not likely to tire quickly, but none of the lines is particularly good. Harvard's first two midfields are both clearly superior to any of Penn's.

So far, the Quakers have won four of their seven games, but most of their victories have been over relatively weak teams from the Philadelphia area. Probably the only Ivy League team worse than the Quakers is Dartmouth, but the League has always been well balanced, and there were several major upsets last spring, so a Harvard victory cannot be assumed today.

Cle Landolt, Harvard's crease attack-man, isn't overly concerned, though. "It's hard to get too psyched up for these games early in the season," Landolt explained.

The Crimson's next game is a league contest against Cornell on April 18.