Skaters Face Home Tilts Against Big Red, Colgate

Harvard hockey fans, undaunted by their team's two vacation losses, will display their faith in the Crimson's quest for the Ivy League title tonight by packing sold-out Watson Rink to cheer on the Crimson against Ivy arch-rival Cornell.

The contest is the first of a two-game weekend series at home, with Colgate scheduled for Saturday evening. Harvard (10-2 overall) will seek to extend its undefeated ECAC-Ivy record, while Cornell (8-2-1 overall) will attempt to better its 1-1 Ivy mark and Colgate will try to up its dismal 1-9 ECAC standing.

Home Skein Broken

In their final match against the Big Red last year, Harvard's skaters earned a 7-4 victory at Lynah Rink in Ithaca, dealing Cornell its first home Ivy loss in 44 games. The Crimson went on to win its first Ivy championship since 1963, breaking an eight-year Cornell stranglehold.

The Big Red icemen, hoping to avenge that 7-4 humiliation, head to Cambridge after sweeping the ECAC Holiday Hockey Festival held last weekend in New York's Madison Square Garden. Cornell posted a 10-7 win over Boston College and a 7-4 victory over St. Lawrence.

Senior co-captain Dave Peace, voted the tournament's Most Valuable Player, paced the Big Red attack with three goals and four assists for the two games. Sophomore Dave Chrastina played well against the Larries in his first varsity start and may replace veteran goalie Steve Kelleher again in the nets tonight.

Juniors Brain Campbell and Dave Groulx join Peace in leading the Cornell offense, which lost two strong wings, Bob Murray and Doug Marrett, through graduation last year. The Big Red will also miss the services of two graduated defensemen, All-American George Kuzmicz and Bill Murray.

Harvard's Ted Thorndike is expected to return to action tonight after two games' absence, and the rest of the Crimson lineup should be intact. Thorndike missed the second St.Louis game and the Boston College contest after teammate Jim Thomas hit him in the back of the heel during practice last Saturday.