Racketmen Whip Cadets; Depth is Key to 8-1 Win

In its toughest challenge of the season to date, Harvard's varsity squash team demolished a rugged Army squad 8-1 yesterday at the Cadet Academy. Five victories at the low positions clinched the Crimson victory and handed the Cadets their first loss in five contests.

Six of the Harvard wins, including the last four matches, were three-game sweeps. At number three, Fernando Gonzales' defeat was the first Crimson lost this season. The squash team remains unbeaten in three matches and does not face another collegiate challenge until it hosts Navy at the Hemenway gym on January 10.

Prior to the Army contest, Harvard manager Dave Neal had predicted that the match would be decided at the bottom slots. "We should win because the strength of this team is way low." Neal said.

The Crimson proved his hypothesis yesterday, taking all 12 games at the bottom four positions. Sophomore Dave Fish at number six started the rout by easily handling Fred Claghorn, 15-4, 15-12, 15-8.

Harvard's Jaime Gonzales began the season at number nine but has now advanced through challenge rounds to the seventh spot. He defended that ranking against Army by downing Steve Garret, 15-11, 15-4, 15-8.

Sophomore Paul Brown and Pete Abrams completed the Crimson victory with three-game wins at number eight and nine. "They just had too much depth," Army coach Bill Cullen said after the match. "We knew the big deciding factor would be the bottom four contests."

The highpoint of the match for Army was Julian Burns' four-game triumph over Fernando Gonzales. The Crimson's number three player won his first game 15-11, but dropped three extremely close contests to Bruns-15-16, 15-18, and 11-15. Burns emered the match undefeated in intercollegiate competition.

Coach Cullen was also pleased with the Cadets' George Alcorn at number one Harvard captain Larry Terrell won in three hard-fought games. 18-15, 15-10 15-11. "Considering that Terrell is the best collegiate player in the country. I was very happy with Alcorn's performance." Cullen said.

John Ince provided the Crimson's sixth three-game sweep. After being pushed into extra points in an opening 17-15 victory, Ince added 15-11 and 15-9 conquests of Cadet Jack Stevenson for the win.

Playing at number two, Fritz Hobbs triumphed in four games, but Army's Bill Malkemes put him to the task in every game. The final scores were 15-12, 15-13, 12-15, and 17-16.

Ed Atwood dropped his opening contest, 12-15, to his Army opponent, Joe Reeder. But revenge was brutal, as Atwood devastated his challenger 15-5, 15-7, and 15-8, in the last three games.