Soccer Game With Tufts Will Open Season Today

Coach Bruce Munro's soccer team faces a strong Tufts squad today to open a season that finds the Crimson booters playing six games in the next 20 days The tough schedule will be quite an endurance test for Munro's veteran, but highly injury prone, team.

The squad's walking wounded already include three starters--among them John Thorndike at inside left with a knee injury, Mike Kramer at outside right slowed by the flu, and fullback Terry Winslow bothered by a sore throat. All three players will go against Tufts today, but they won't be at full strength and may see only limited action.

Even with these temporary weaknesses, the Crimson is in reasonably good shape for the Jumbos. In an unofficial scrimmage against weak Boston University on Monday, the squad managed to run up 12 goals, an unheard of total for a soccer game. Returning to action will be such competent veterans as Emmanual Boye at right half and Ebenezer Klufio at outside right.

Starting at center forward is the incomparable Chris Ohiri, probably the best athlete in the College. But Ohiri's recurring injuries are almost as legendary as his athletic prowess, and coach Munro must face the unpleasant prospect of losing his great center forward at any time.

The all-Ivy star may have scored 15 goals last season, but ten of them came in two games and he sat out half of the season with leg and knee injuries. Last year's team, minus Ohiri, lost two games and tied one before beating Yale for the league championship.

As the Crimson opens a new season, a healthy Ohiri could well mean Munro's fifth title in eight years. But the Ivy crown may well depend on the team's ability to win without the junior center forward from Owerri, Nigeria.