Soccer Team Must Beat Tigers; Squad Hurt by Ohiri's Injury

The Crimson soccer team's early hopes for an undefeated season were killed long ago by the Little Three. Ivy league title hopes have vanished after the unexpected losses to Dartmouth and Penn. Only the hope of a Big Three championship remains, but in this morning's Princeton match, Coach Bruce Munro faces the threat of his first losing season in nearly a decade.

Harvard will again be playing without its vulnerable star, Chris Ohiri, who has not scored in the last two games. Ohiri is plagued by an ankle which is still bothering him, according to Munro.

Yet Princeton with only a 1-4 record in Ivy League play, should give Harvard the breather it needs. Munro plans to experiment once more with Captain Tony Davies at inside right, in an effort to bolster the Crimson attack. Davies moved up alongside Ohiri in the Penn contest, but Harvard was again unable to score.

Sophomore Cormac O'Malley will open at center forward, creating a lack of experience in the front line. Sam Thompson, another sophomore is opening at left half, along with John Thorndike at inside left, and Emmanual Boye at center half along the line.

But the problem in the 4-0 loss to Penn was the defense. Penn, definitely not a solid offensive team was able to leak several easy goals. With Davies having moved up front, the Crimson defense tired late in the game. The Princeton game may pose much the same problem, with a late Tiger press bringing havoc around the Harvard goal. Lou Williams and Terry Winslow at fullback have been the only defensemen able to stem repeated attacks.

Coach Munro feels that low team morale has been the major factor in the recent Crimson losses. Munro believes "there is not a team we played that we could not have beaten." But Munro feels that morale is "sky high" for the Princeton game; the team has been passing and scoring well in practice.

Morale should be the key against the weak Tiger booters. With Ohiri out of the front line, the Crimson will be able to test its passing and teamwork, something they tend to forget when feeding the Nigerian star. The threat of a losing season may spark the Cantabrigians to a winning effort, something they became much too accustomed to with last year's championship team.