After enjoying a comfortable 9-5 lead at the half, the Crimson polo team was overtaken and then defeated by Williams 12-11 Saturday night in New York City.

John Costi of Williams scored the deciding goal in the 35th second of a "sudden death" period. The match, an unusually freescoring contest, which was played at the Squadron A Armory on 94th st, and Madison ave., inaugurated this year's indoor season.

During the first two chukkers, the Crimson seemed to be on the way to repeating last October's episode in which it trounced the men from Williamstown by a decisive 6-1 score. During the half, Williams came to life and in the third and fourth chukkers outscored the Crimson 6-2 to take the lead and the game from Harvard.

Sandy Calhoun and Stu Bennett led the Crimson trio in the scoring department with four goals each. "Dusty" Howland, Emil Van Peborgh, and even one of the ponies contributed a goal apiece for the cause. Costi was the high scorer for Williams with five goals.

Last year's polo squad lost all its games and had an altogether unfortunate season. Owning no horses, the team encounters considerable difficulty in getting in any local practice.