Ice Postpones Playoff, Moves Booters to Yale

Icy conditions on the only available soccer fields in Boston yesterday forced a postponement of the NCAA New England Regional Playoff between Harvard and Southern Connecticut and a transfer to the Yale field in New Haven today at 1:30 p.m.

The postponement followed frantic last-minute efforts to transfer the game from Harvard to the B. U. field. The game was rescheduled to be played at B. U. at 6 p.m. last night but a misunderstanding over use of the field resulted in a further delay.

The Harvard and Southern Connecticut coaches also considered the freshman field here and the fields at Wesleyan and Mitchell Junior College before finally settling on Yale. The difficulty was enhanced by the NCAA's adherence to a requirement that the playoff be held by November 23.

Unofficial

The Area Selection Committee, in charge of running the playoff, only relented on the rule when the B. U. Athletic Department announced that their field would not be ready for an official game.

The Area Selection Committee, composed of coaches Allen King of Worcester, Allen Burnham of Dartmouth and Terry Jackson of Wesleyan, also upheld NCAA regulations demanding an enclosed field, facilities for ticket-taking, and means of crowd control.

The field difficulty originated with the decision to cover the Harvard playing surface with a tarpaulin to protect against rain. "Instead, of course, we got snow," Harvard coach Bob Munro said. "Monday afternoon we went out and tried to get the tarp off the field. We couldn't."

Soft Turf

The freshman field also proved unusable although it had not been covered. The soft turf would not stand up to a snowscraper working on the field.

The end of the soccer season had caused most area colleges to leave their fields uncleared. "That is why we went to Boston University. We knew that they clear their fields at this time of year for local Thanksgiving football games." Munro said.

After arrangements were made for the game to be held at B.U., however. Munro and the Southern Connecticut coach, Robert Dikranian, found that the area cleared was only sufficient for football and not soccer.

NCAA regulations ruled out Wesleyan and Mitchell as sites for today's game. Harvard and Southern Connecticut will travel to New Haven today. Harvard will remain as the home team.

Munro said that Yale had "a field Harvard knows well, having just played there last Friday. The only disadvantage is that now we have to make the trip."