The varsity hockey team should be able to take a slight breather tonight when it faces small American International College in the Eastern States Colosseum at Springfield, Mass.

A.I.C. has a little-publicized sextet which opened its offical season last night against Providence College. This small hockey squad which includes all the available skaters in the college (16) has been rained out of one game with Amherst while defeating UMass, 11 to 2, in a drizzly practice game.

Although tonight's varsity opponent is definitely in the hockey "minor leagues", its coach Bill Turner promised last night that "we'll give Harvard plenty of trouble."

A.I.C. will field a team of juniors, all of whom played on last year's team which finished with an 11 and 3 record, including victories over Yale, Princeton, and Providence.

Turner said yesterday that he would be "disappointed if there was as much as a four-goal spread between the teams." He described his team as a "hustling, good small-college team with three players who could make any other college team". Bill Bennett, the team's senior goalie, represents the weaker side of A.I.C.'s starting team and has his "off and on nights", Turner added.

The Crimson team received some encouraging news yesterday when last year's outstanding defenseman, Dan Ullyot, reported for practice with his doctor's permission. Ullyot had been out since the season started with ear trouble but said last night that he felt ready now and could play as soon as he got in condition.

Coach Cooney Weiland said that Ullyot should make a valuable addition to the squad since his return to defense would strengthen that post as well as enabling a converted wing to move back to the forward line.

The Crimson coach added that he did not plan any lineup changes for tonight's game despite the fact that none of the lines was working especially well in the varsity's recent 4-3 loss to B.U.

"The team hadn't played together for more than a week after the holiday tournament," Weiland explained