Lacrosse Team Faces Its First Test

By this time tomorrow, the young varsity lacrosse team should know how good it really is. So far, things have been easy as the squad has rolled to a 4-1 record, already matching last year's victory total.

There have been two routs of out-matched foes, 19-4 over Mass Maritime and 13-7 over C.W. Post on Long Island. The team has also played well in tense situations, edging Adelphi, 11-9, and coming from behind twice to best Bowdoin, 11-7.

Even the lone defeat, 11-7 at the hands of powerful Hofstra, seemed at the time to be a bright spot. After falling behind, 5-0, the Crimson stickmen managed to out-score the Dutchmen over the final 40 minutes to forge the respectable final margin. At the time, Hofstra was undefeated and ranked sixth in the country.

On Tuesday, however, Brown stunned the Dutchmen, 14-7, again casting the Crimson's Ivy League prospects into doubt. Maybe giving Hofstra a tough fight didn't mean as much as we thought.

But Harvard meets eighth-ranked Penn tonight on the astroturf at Franklin Field. By the time that contest is over, the Crimson stickmen should know whether or not they are doomed to spend another year strugglingat the bottom of the Ivy League.

Last year, Harvard went into sudden-death overtime in its final game before gaining its first Ivy victory and escaping the league cellar. With the Crimson and Dartmouth tied at 11-all, attackman Bill Tennis took a pass behind the net and came charging around onto the crease. He was knocked off his feet, but as he fell he shoveled a one-handed shot into the goal to win the game.

As it turned out, the Ivy League was without a single upset last year. Cornell went undefeated to win the championship for the fourth time in five years, and Penn was second with only the one loss to the Big Red. Princeton was third, losing only to the top two squads.

Brown, Yale, Harvard and Dartmouth came trailing along behind in that order, each team losing to all the teams above it and beating those below.

This is how the league shapes up this year, in the order that the Ivy teams were ranked in the most recent national poll: CORNELL [3-0, 2nd in the country]-- Harvard coach Bob Scalise says that Cornell is still the team to beat in the Ivy League, and said matter of factly several weeks ago that the Big Red should win the national championship. Maryland, Hopkins, and Navy still have something to say about that, but Cornell does not return the best attack in the country--All-America and Ivy League "Player of the Year" Eamon McEneaney, All-America and national scoring leader Mike French, and underrated Jon Levine. Add 2nd team All-America middie Bill Marino, and you've got a pretty hard team to beat.

PENNSYLVANIA (8th in the country)--Harvard's opponent today is 4-1, its only loss by one goal to Hofstra, and has already won its Ivy League opener, stomping Yale, 13-8. The Red and Blue return a fine middie in Mike Page, and an All-Ivy attackman in Pete Hollis, but must replace Mark Avart, the best goalie in the league last year. Looking forward to the Penn game, Scalise said yesterday, "There's one really good thing about a lot of our games this year, and the Penn game is one of them--going into the game you really can't say who should win and who should lose. And that's a credit to how hard our guys have worked."

BROWN (10th in the country)--The Bruins manhandled Hofstra earlier this week, and Scalise rates them even with Penn. Brown returns a hefty compliment of lettermen, 15, including All-Ivy middie Bob MacLeod. But the coach must replace two other All-Ivy picks. Harvard meets Brown--where Scalise played and led the nation in scoring--early in May.

PRINCETON [13th in the country]-- Several weeks ago, the Crimson mentor picked Princeton as the team most likely to challenge Cornell, but the Tigers have lost three of their first four games. Scalise still insists that Princeton has the talent, and has just failed so far to put things together. The squad is led by a pair of fine attackmen, 2nd team All-America Dave Tickner, and fellow Baltimorean Wick Sollers.

After Cornell, Princeton was the roughest opponent for the Crimson last year, destroying Harvard, 18-10.

HARVARD (15th in the country)--The Crimson offense has been powered to this point by the high-scoring attack trio of Bill MacKenzie, Bill Tennis, and sophomore Steve Martin. The inexperienced defensive unit--two of the starters are sophomores who did not play last year--has rounded into form quickly, and Jim Michelson has contributed a solid effort in the net. There are two freshmen and two sophomores starting on the first two midfield, while two of last year's starters, co-captains Bruce Bruckmann and Scott Mead, are still out on a day-to-day basis with costly injuries.

YALE (19th in the country)--The Bulldogs lost their entire defense to graduation, so they are struggling to protect veteran goalie Angus Gephart. Yale, which beat Harvard in overtime last year, has so far collected four wins against two losses--their Ivy opener against Penn, and a stomping at the hands of the perennial power Johns Hopkins.

DARMOUTH (unranked)--The Big Green, like the Crimson, is depending heavily on young players. There are ten freshmen on the team and only five seniors. Newcomers Mike McCarthy and Bruce Bierman are being counted on to bolster the offense. Like last year, Dartmouth is Harvard's last opponent of the season. Hopefully this time around, Scalise's charges won't still be looking for their first league win when Dartmouth rolls into town.