Crimson Squad to Face Improved Brown Sextet

With Canadian star Gene Kinasewich reinstated in its first time, the varsity hockey team is a good bet to pick up its first Ivy League win against Brown tonight at Watson Rink. The Crimson, showing a much improved form in its last two outings, put on a real display of power against Northeastern this Thursday, crushing the Huskies, 8-1, and they should be in top form for the Bruins.

Brown, however, has been pointing towards tonight's contest as one of the make-or-break games of its season, and could prove a tough opponent. The Bruins won their first three games of the season, including an 8-1 victory over Army and an incredible 15-1 slaughter of American International. A big asset is their fine goalie, John Dunham, who turned a spirited performance this Wednesday in his team's 6-0 loss to Boston College. The win over Army was the Providence team's first over the Cadets in eleven years and has touched off a surge of optimism among both the coaches and players, as three sophomores, Leon Bryant, Hank Manley, and Terry Chapman rang up a total of 10 points in the game. Beamed coach Jim Fullerton, "Their position play and execution was greatly improved and their spirit pleased me no end."

Harvard, which started the season slowly with a sloppily played loss to St. Nicholas Hockey Club, has been searching for an offensive combination to replace the high scoring group which graduated last June. The return of Gene Kinasewich, who led the team in scoring last season, has given a big boost to the team's hopes, and with Thursday's win it appears that Coach Coonie Wieland has discovered an offensive punch which will balance the team's defensive strength. The defense, led by All-American Dave Johnston, has been superlative all season, leaving goalie Godfrey Wood with a much easier task than his Bruin counterpart. If Harvard defensive play continues as it has, Brown should be quite hardpressed even to break into the scoring column.

But the game will be no push-over. Harvard seems often to suffer from a peculiar psychosis when it comes to scoring on top-flight goalies, and if Dunham is in exceptional form, he is certainly capable of frustrating an excellent attack even without much help from his defense.

On the other hand, of course, a team that gets off 57 shots in a game as the Crimson did against Northeastern could easily throw a goalie into a state of acute shell-shock and reduce the game to a rout.