Crimson Icemen Tangle With Scrappy Quaker Six

After watching his team lose, 5-2, to Penn earlier this season, one St. Lawrence hockey fan described the game as one that St. Lawrence shouldn't have lost, and characterized the Penn squad as "not big, but scrappy, sort of like an over-zealous high school team. They just don't let up."

Harvard's varsity icemen face this same Quaker team tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. in Penn's Class of '23 Rink, and if you can go by the description above and the result of last season's contest in the City of Brotherly Love, this should be a hell of a game. Last winter's encounter was an edge-of-your-seat, not-over-until-the-last-moment nail--biter with the Crimson coming out with a wild 7-6 win.

New Looks

Both squads are sporting somewhat new looks this season, each having lost a good deal to graduation. Bob Crocker, in his second year coaching the Quakers, had to replace his top scoring line of Dietrick Gyetko, Bill MacDonell and Bob Read as well as his first defense of Pete McNamee and Mike Hubbert. That's five of the top six scorers right there.

Crocker does have his number--five scorer back in Bernie Lafrancois, who centers the Quaker first line of Gordie Halliday and Gary Lyte. The three combined for 56 total points last season, 27 of which were goals.

In addition to the top line, Crocker also has four other returning lettermen. John Harwood, an alternate captain, Peter Leef, Bruce Craig and Pete Cahill will be bolstered by sophomores Marc Irwin, Ed Parkinson, Rick Murphy and Paul Stewart.

On the defensive side of things, Penn, like Harvard, will have to rely on some juniors and sophomores with little varsity experience. Ray Lalonde, the Quaker captain still in search of his first career goal, and Doug Werlein, an alternate, will anchor the defense as the only two veterans.

Guarding the nets has also been a common problem to the two squads, as both Harvard and Penn graduated their regular goaltenders. Crocker has gone with junior Bernie Huot, who had an 8.4 goals-against average while playing 36 varsity minutes last season behind Tim McQuiston and sophomore Tony Ciresi. Ciresi as a freshman compiled a 4.4 goals-against average while playing 980 minutes.

Crimson mentor Bill Cleary went with sophomore Jim Murray in goal in Wednesday's opening 3-2 loss to the University of New Hampshire and Murray should see action Sunday as Harvard seeks to even its record at 1-1.