JV Soccer Shines in First Year

"One of the finest things that's happened around here in a long time," according to varsity coach Bruce Munro, is Harvard's newest athletic institution, the junior varsity soccer team.

Yesterday afternoon the j.v.'s took on the Boston University freshman team and came out with its fifth straight win, and fourth shutout, 2 to 0.

Outside right Steve Griffith looped in a second quarter tally with assists from Haven Pell and Don Gleason, and lofted a corner kick which Henry Fields headed home in the final period. Harvard controlled the play throughout the game and goalie John Axten had little trouble preserving the shutout.

Coach Munro has long realized the advantages an official j.v. organization would afford the soccer program. Until this fall, however, the athletic department has been unwilling to provide the funds needed for uniforms, referees, and travel.

Former Player to Coach

When a total of 57 players came out for the squad in September, the sports administration agreed to give a j.v. schedule a try. Seven games with local schools were quickly lined up and freshman adviser Seamus Malin '62 was drafted into the coaching position.

Malin played inside and center forward for Munro his last three years at Harvard, and since his graduation, has coached at Moses Brown School in Providence.

In afternoon soccer practice Malin takes charge of one half of the varsity field and works with around twenty players that Munro isn't using. This arrangement gives needed work to more than the 18 men that can be carried on the varsity road squad. The incentive of weekly games against j.v. teams from other colleges solves the soccer dropout problem that claims many potentialy valuable players each year.

"There are a lot of guys not good enough for the varsity, but too good for the House league," noted Munro. "This gives them a place to play."

The junior varsity also provides a double benefit for Munro. It gives experience to a sizeable taxi squad, which he can call upon when injuries strike as they did in last Saturday's Cornell game. Second, it provides a convenient opponent that the varsity can scrimmage during the week.

Weaken House League

Munro's only hesitation in forming a j.v. team was that it might weaken the House soccer league. With the House teams as strong as ever and the j.v. team frighteningly potent, Munro is now planning on a bigger and stronger program for the future.

Malin is also overjoyed by the setup, and hopes that next year the schedule will include rival junior varsities from Princeton, Yale, and Brown.