Harvard's soccer team, rated number one in New England with a 9-1 mark, hopes to keep its slim chance of an Ivy League title a possibility with a win this afternoon at Yale.

With a 5-1 marksss in the Ivies, the Crimson and Cornell trail unbeaten Penn by one game going into the last weekend of conference matches. A Harvard victory today wold prolong the Crimson's faint hope for a title until tomorrow when the Quakers entertain the Big Red in Philadelphia.

A Cornell win would result in a three-way tie for the crown.

If Harvard wins they will have to score on possibly the toughest defense in the Ivy League. Led by gaolie Ken Pastermak, the Elis have stayed close to every team they've faced this season.

"They are definitely tough to score on, but they don't seem to be able to score much themselves." Harvard coach Bruce Munro said. "The main reason for this is their use of a retreating defense; they throw seven players back into the penalty area to protect the goal and that makes scoring on them very difficult."

Last week, Yale tied Princeton, 1-1, while Harvard was upending Brown, 4-1, to keep its premier ranking in New England. This week during practice the Crimson worked on situation drills, (corner kicks, penalty kicks, etc.), defensive setups and a few new and unrevealed offensive touches. The physical shape of the team is imporving and although some players are not ranking at 100 per cent, no one is sitting out the game with the Bulldogs due to injuries.

Captain Charlie Thomas and sophomore Felix Adedeji will both start for the Crimson but their performances will both be hampered by leg injuries. Rick Scott is bothered with a bad ankle and knee strain and Emanuel Ekama and Norie Harrower are opening with a severely bruised bone in the leg and a hamstring pull respectively.