Stickmen Visit Princeton In Search of Ivy Victory

"This is a special, special weekend." Princeton lacrosse player Wayne Smith said late Thursday night as Princeton's clubs kicked off House Parties Weekend with open bars.

But unlike House Parties Weekends of yesteryear, one of the highlights is not likely to be the Harvard-Princeton lacrosse game at 2 p.m. today on Finney Field. Neither team has any hope of an exceptional season, and it may be that the Crimson will be able to crush the Tigers in front of 1500 partisans.

Princeton is now 1-6 after beating lowly Dartmouth, 7-5. Williams topped Dartmouth, 8-2, before losing to Harvard, 19-3. "They're finding it really difficult not to think they're a bad team," Smith said of his Tigers.

When asked what his team's strong points were, Smith paused a full 15 seconds. "Well, it's not our defense.... The midfield isn't our strength because we run only two midfields. I think our attack is pretty good." Smith suggested. "At is best it can be as good as other attacks in the League." Smith is an attackman.

43 Years

It is strange to hear such a pessimistic report from a Princeton lacrosse player. The Tigers were long a power in the sport, dominating the Ivy League. Harvard hadn't beaten them in 43 years until an overtime win in 1968. The Crimson has won both of the games since then.

One problem this year has been the arrival of a new coach, Art Robinson. Last year's coach, Ferris Thompsen, tended to be too, lackadaisical in his approach for many players, and now other players are saying that Robinson is too strict.

Harvard is confident, but has learned not to be overly so after an 11-5 loss to Brown Wednesday. "We feel we should win," midfielder Bucky Hayes said Thursday. "But we're definitely worried about it. We respect Princeton." He noted that the Tigers had held Brown to a 5-5 halftime tie before falling apart and losing, 10-5.

Sophomore goalie Joe Walker will play again for injured John Cosentino.