Nearly two-thirds of the varsity soccer team's starting lineup against Williams today will be answering its first opening whistle of the 1951 season. By promoting seven former reserves to starting positions, Bruce Munro hopes to boost the Crimson's chances for its second win in the 2:00 p.m. game. The Crimson is a slight underdog.
In the two games already played--a 4 to 1 loss to Tufts in the opener, and last Saturday's 6 to 0 victory over B.U.--Harvard's "blue" (or first line), has looked lazy and unaggressive. In contrast, the "white" or (second line) showed a lot of hustle in the B.U. game, and by keeping on the pressure in this week's practices has earned itself a right to start. Munro says that he "will go along with the guys with the hustle, even if they aren't as skillful as the blue team."
The records show that hustle and not skill has brought results, however. Against the Terriers the "white" line scored four of the six goals and the two lines played for approximately an even amount of time. Both lines have a tendency to pass too much and shoot too little, but Munro has been working on half-field practice all week in an effort to correct this.
The defense personnel has also changed, though not so radically. Bob Sobel has moved up beside Charley Ufford into the left fullback position on the strength of his booming downfield boots. Latsl Berger, recovered from his twisted knee, will be in the left halfback post, with Bob Harding and Larry Leonard the other halfbacks. Captain Dick Craven will be goalie.
Juan Vollenweider, Frank Davies, Ed Seaga, Johnny Beer, and Steve Joyce are now the first line for the Crimson. Munro has been shuffing players all week, but he finally took the B.U. game second line intact and promoted it. The old first-string is expected to see plenty of action, however.
This is the first time Williams has played the Crimson in soccer since Munro became coach and introduced his "English" style of short-passing play. The Ephmen use a more aggressive hit-and-run style.
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