Hockey Team Faces Brown In League Contest Tonight

An aroused Brown Bear, still smarting from that week's loss to Princeton's weak hockey team, will be fighting for his Pentagonal life tonight when the varsity sextet enters his cigar-shaped Providence lair at 8:30 p.m. The Crimson freshmen meet Brown's '57 sextet in the 7 p.m. preliminary.

Brown, two-time loser in Pentagonal competition, must win tonight against the league leading Crimson to remain in contention for first place. The varsity faces the Bruins in its supposedly throughout league game. Brown is the only Pentagonal team in the East so far ranked above the Crimson.

A Crimson victory tonight will be a clear indication of Harvard's chances for its first league crown since 1937.

Coach Cooney Wetland's team, though without defenseman Ed Mrkonich, still rates a definite favorite. Dartmouth slaughtered the same Princeton sextet that edged Brown, and the Crimson has twice in a row topped Dartmouth.

But the Bruin is notorious in a spoiler role, especially on his own ice. The varsity has not won at Providence since 1950 and twice last year Brown upset a heavily favored Crimson team to spell its chances for the Pentagonal title.

"40 Percent Improved"

The absence of Mrkonich will undoubtedly be felt tonight, even though Weiland does have four more veteran defensemen to call on. Just when Mrkonich will be again available is still uncertain. He can't play because of an unpaid term bill.

Weiland will start the same revised forward lines he used successfully against Dartmouth last Saturday. Sophomore Billy Cleary will again skate on the first line with Captain Normie Wood and Dick Clasby. The Crimson coach has called his team "40 percent improved" with the addition of Cleary, largely because of the strength he adds to his line.

Captain Derrick Nicholas leads his improving Yardling team in quest of its fifth straight win against a strong Brown freshman sextet.