HOCKEY

Back in action right after vacation, the Green pucksters suffered two quick defeats by Yale, 5-2, and Boston College, 7-2, both on the road. The Green had hoped to shock an on-again-off-again Eli squad, but found their balanced, hardshooting team a bit too much. The Bulldogs weren't allowed to relax their guard, but they managed to successfully control the game. B.C. had beaten the Indians earlier in the ECAC Tournament, 4-1, and Coach Oakes was looking for a turnabout upset. The Eagles were not to be grounded, however, and the Big Green skaters had to work hard to score against a remarkable defensive effort, finally losing 7-2. With two such openers behind them, it was with some eagerness that Coach Oakes' icemen looked toward their home date with Pennsylvania. This season marks Penn's first in Ivy hockey play, and the second season in recent years that they have fielded a hockey squad. On ice, the Indians and Quakers had met only once before, in 1920, with Dartmouth the victor.

This season Dartmouth treated a near- capacity Alumni Weekend crowd to ample scoring action, bombing the Red and Blue 10-0. Nearly everyone in Green on skates scored once, and sophomore Kent Nyberg and juniors Robbie Cann and Gary Goodenough all tallied twice on the harried Penn goalie. Adding to the offensive output, a fine effort by Indian defensemen and senior goalie Jim Cruickshank blanked the visitors very effectively. It was Cruickshank's first varsity shutout. The Indian first line, consisting of three sophomores, Tom Coffman, Dave Hutton, and Kent Nyberg, who led the frosh last year by setting a new all-time scoring mark, accounted for three goals and five assists against Penn. Reunited following vacation, the Coffman-Hutton-Nyberg combination has proved deadly against opponent net-minders. Rolf Kielman, sophomore center for the second line, collected a goal and five assists.

After this enjoyable outing, the Green next matched wits, but not scores, with a talented Harvard hockey team that was tied for first in the Ivy standings. The Crimson, in Hanover, jumped out to a quick two-goal lead in 3:16 of the first period. Dartmouth rallied on the strength of a great second effort by Kent Nyberg, who swept the puck in front of the Harvard net, was knocked to the ice, but on the way down tipped the elusive object into the goal. Dartmouth seemed about to surge ahead from its 2-1 deficit until Harvard turned on the power, garnering another pair of goals by the period's end. The Indians went scoreless in the middle stanza, while the Cantabs added two more for a commanding 5-1 margin. In the final period Harvard again found two openings to slide the puck past goalie Cruickshank. Kent Nyberg scored his second goal for the Green, once again in a shuffle in front of the Harvard net. The Crimson victory, 7-2, gave them the undisputed lead in the Ivy League race, and dropped the Green to 3-7 overall this season.

Here again, however, it is necessary to comment upon the fine spirit of the team. Coach Oakes is concerned not with the need to inspire determination but with the tendency of his sophomores to "try too hard." Once this young squad gains confidence and can relax a bit on the ice, it is going to be very powerful and explosive offensively. Already strong on defense, on fine efforts from senior Tom Long and sophomore Pete Stone, the Indians will be a threat to any team they face. Everything taken together, it would seem that the future looks good for this club. There is no doubt that the return of three of last season's top freshmen to the squad following vacation will strengthen the Green's balance as the season progresses.