The Crimson fencing team faces two opponents this weekend, and the first-Duke-should give them little difficulty, but the second-N.Y.U.-is perhaps the best college team in the nation.

"A victory against N.Y.Y. isn't inconceivable, but it isn't too probable either," Larry Cetrulo, a Crimson co-captain, said yesterday.

Both matches will be held in the IAB. The Duke match is scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m., and the one against N.Y.U. begins at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Weaknesses

Most strong college teams usually have some weaknesses at one of the three weapons and N.Y.U. is no exception. Its weak weapon is the saber, where it has only one All-American, one Easterns finalist, and one man who beat Cetrulo, the Crimson's best Siberian last year.

At the other two weapons, the Violets are considerably stronger. Their foil team is composed of three Olympic possibilities who last year won the NCAA's and came in second at the Sr. National Championships.

Epee

At the epee, N.Y.U. has the Cuban national champion, who as a transfer student became eligible this year, and All-American Wayne Krause, who took second at the NCAA's last year.

One chance does exist for a Crimson victory: the Violets usually fence poorly in Cambridge. Two years ago, they nearly lost, but managed to pull it out, 15-12.

"We have a good team, and we could give them a very tough fight," Cetrulo said, trying to sound extremely convincing.

Against Duke, the Crimson faces a team that is trying to build up fencing in the South. Duke has little experience and it still has a long way to go.