Varsity Booters to Play Brown In NCAA District Championship

Harvard's varsity soccer team battles for the right to extend its finest season when it faces Brown at 1:30 p.m. on the Business School field for the NCAA District 1 University Division championship.

The Crimson finished its regular season schedule on Friday against Yale with a 3-0 trouncing of the Bulldogs. The victory was Harvard's twelfth straight and completed the first undefeated, untied season in the 64-year history of soccer at Harvard.

In the NCAA tournament to determine a national champion. Harvard beat Southern Connecticut 5-0 last Monday and now must beat Brown for the right to enter the quarterfinals. The playoffs are run on a single elimination basis with the winner of today's match facing the District 2 champion for a spot at the national finals in San Jose. California.

No Newcomer

Brown is not a newcomer to NCAA post-season tournaments. Last year the Bruins went all the way to the semifinals before losing to the eventual co champion Michigan State squad.

The Bruins, 9-3-2 for the season, for the first time in seven years lost the Ivy League title to Harvard when the Crimson triumphed in Providence 2-1 ten days ago. That match was a roughly-fought contest in which the Crimson had to come from behind to clinch the victory.

In the past week Brown has won two crucial matches. Against Bridgeport, the Bruins edged the Purple Knights 2-4 to qualify for today's match. Last Saturday Brown, knowing that a loss would drop it to fourth place in the Ivy League, easily defeated Columbia 3-1 to finish second behind the Crimson in the Ivy standings.

Today's game is very likely to be a rugged match. Brown relies on its strength rather than on speed, a direct contrast to the Crimson. At Providence, the Bruins harassed Solomon Gomez and tried to get him to lose his temper and be thrown out of the game. Gomez kept his cool, but at Yale on Friday the Crimson's top scorer was ejected and Brown, seeing the possibility, may attempt to aggravate any latent hostilities.

Opposition Forming

Opposition for the Crimson in later rounds of the national final is beginning to take shape. On Saturday, Hartwick College came from two goals behind in the first round to edge N.Y.U.. 1-3. in the NCAA District 2 championship.

The Warriors now enter the quarter finals against the winter of today's Harvard-Brown game. The quarterfinals will determine the four representative teams in San Jose. Hartwick has a 10-1-1 record for the season, its only loss coming at the hands of N.Y.U. earlier in the year.

Penn faces Philadelphia Textile this week to determine the quarterfinal representative from the Mid-Atlantic district. A victory for the Quakers would place them opposite Maryland in a game to determine one of the four final participants in California.

Maryland is one of the defending national co-champions. having tied Michigan State in the NCAA finals last year. The Terps defeated Southern Florida 4-1 last Saturday to win the Southern Conference title and enter the quarterfinals.