Injury-Plagued Crimson To Face Yale in Soccer

The hobbled Harvard hooters, coming off a surprisingly difficult 1-0 NCAA first round win over Rhode Island yesterday and a winning 3-2 loss to Brown Saturday, faces the unwelcome prospect of his third game in five days this afternoon when it meets a defense-minded Yale team at 2 p.m. in the final regular season game for both squads.

The Elis who are perenially among the top defensive team in the Ivies, but at the same time consistently one of the weakest offensively, are 4-7-1 overall and 5-3 in the league, pose a problem to the Crimson today largely because of Harvard's continuing injury problems.

Only four out of eleven Crimson starters are healthy for the contest, and the rest are hobbled by an assortment of leg injuries not severe enough to keep them from playing, but painful enough to hinders their performance.

Foremost among the walking wounded in Bent Hinze, who injured himself against Brown last weekend and played the Rhode Island game is constant pain and unable to run at more than half speed. Hinze's availability may not be known until game time. Also sidelined with a leg injury is captain Ric Scott, Scott, who has played the season with an assortment of irritating injuries, had to be taken out of the game midway through the second half against Rhode Island with a severely bruised shin and a banged knee, but will probably play today regardless.

Injuries to Bahman MossavarRahmani, Demetrio mena, and Emmanuel Ekams have decimated the Crimion at midfield. Mossavar-Rahmani played against the Rams with a painful muscle pull in his leg: Mena had a similarly painful pull; and Ekama's chronic foot condition kept the senior in constant and severe pain, for both the Brown and URI games, All, however, will probably play today, but any further injury could cripple Harvard for its crucial New England NCAA regional final next Monday.

Besides Hinze, both Felix Adedeji and Chris Papagianis are still suffering from slight injuries, and the fourth starter, Dragan Vujovie, is still in Yugoslavia attending his brother's wedding. Without Vujovic. The Harvard offense, a powerhouse most of the season, has stalled noticeably in its last two games, getting only two scores goal performance against an outclassed Ram team yesterday.

Injuries, in fact, have prevented the Crimson from approaching its full potential this season. The four offensive starters have not been completely healthy at the same time since Columbia, when it exploded lot sight goods, and the midfield has been constantly reshuffled because of injuries. Only on defense has Harvard stayed restively healthy.

Against Rhode Island, Harvard had an extremely difficult time cracking the Rams's ten-man defense, and it is probable that Yale will mass defensively in much the same way in hopes of shutting off the Crimson, frustrating its attack, and then hopping for lucky break for a score of their own.

Their defense, led by goalie Ken Pasternak, has had its problems this year (giving up eight goals to Penn in Philadelphia), but Pasternak is an exceptionally talented netminder, and considering Harvard's extremely limited number of shots on goal against both the Bruins and the Rams, he might not be tested too often.

The Crimson who will have to settle for sole possession of second place in the Ivy League if they win, could fall into a three-way tie with Brown and Cornell for second with an unforeseen defeat, and is in an extremely delicate situation. It cannot afford a loss because of the damaging psychological effects: it cannot afford any more injuries because of an overall lack of depth; and it cannot afford to think past the Eli to the NCAA regional final on Monday because, as always. Yale is extremely difficult to beat when it plays Harvard.