If it were up to Coach Brue Munro, the lacrosse team's annual southern trip would just be a week of intensive training in the sun. But the athletic department will not finance it unless he has scheduled regulation games. He invariably picks some of the country's best college teams, without the happiest results.
Last week, after only four days of outside practice, Munro's stickmen journeyed south and, despite a 9-5 opening victory over Hofstra, were subsequently walloped by Rutgers, Navy, and Washington College.
"There were individual displays of brilliance," said senior captain Dave Davis about the trip, "but the teamwork and conditioning that come from long practice outside just weren't there."
Good Show
Mike Ananis, last year's freshman captain, and Bob Norton, the senior goalie, played well throughout the four games. On defense alongside Davis and senior Dick Loomis, Ananis looked the best of the 15 sophomores on the squad. Norton, plagued by injuries in the past stood off a barrage of shots by some of the nation's best lacrosse players.
Against Hofstra, Harvard started slowly but came back to collect eight second-half goals. Senior attackman Keith Hutchison led the barrage with three scores and junior midfielder Marty Cain added two.
Rutgers' fast breaks broke Harvard on Tuesday, 7-3. Senior creaseman Steve Neubert joined Cain and sophomore Jim Kilkowski in the scoring column for Harvard.
Outclassed
Navy, who has won 29 straight lacrosse games and has been the national champion for six years, outclassed Harvard, 15-1, on Wednesday, in a game that Davis feels is best forgotten. The Harvard players, after traveling all morning, simply were not prepared for the tremendous talent of the Navy team.
Harvard didn't completely recover from that shellacking until the second half of the Washington College game the next day, and by then, with the score 9-1, it was too late.
Still, the Crimson moved the ball quickly from man to man, managing to push the final score up to a respectable 16-8. Sophomore middie Tom Nicosia scooped the ball very well for the Crimson, scoring three goals. Alan Timberlake, the big junior letterman, added two.
Munro's sophomore-dominated team plays M.I.T. across town on Wednesday before opening its Ivy League season at home this Saturday against Penn. "We've got no place to go but up in the League this year," says Munro. Last year Harvard was 0-6 in conference play.
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