The varsity lacrosse team faces the difficult task of stifling NCAA champion Cornell today when the Crimson meets the Big Red on the Business School Field at 3 p.m.

Cornell is the clear favorite, with 22 lettermen returning from last year's 13-1 squad. The Big Red boasts an experienced junior or senior at every starting position.

Cornell's greatest strength lies with its attackmen--Frank Davis, Glen Mueller and Pat Gallagher. Gallagher, the team's high scorer, has collected 6 goals and 20 assists, while Mueller has earned 20 points.

The Big Red also boasts an All-American midfieldman, Bob Shaw, and a junior middle, Bruce Arena, who has scored an impressive 15 goals in seven games.

Cornell's defense has been playing well, but the two alternating goalies are weak. Jim Novak has allowed 22 goals and made 54 saves in seven games, while the other netminder, Bob Cali, has allowed 18 scores and stopped 24 shots in five matches.

Line-up

For Harvard, the starting line-up on attack and at midfield remains the same as it was in the Brown game last Saturday. John Hagerty leads the attack with his team-high point total of 17, playing with junior Steve Milliken and senior Steve Leahy.

Co-captains Bob Green and Verdi DiSesa, and junior Garth Ballantyne head the Crimson midfield, which has been practicing to improve its ball control after an unimpressive performance against the Bruins.

To replace Roger Hoefer, who quit the team last Friday, coach Bruce Munro has moved Dick Carey up from the third midfield to the second, where he joins Leif Rosenberger and Dave Crawford.

Unenviable Job

The unenviable job of blocking Cornell's attack goes to defensemen Rob Barber, Steve Whitman and John Taliaferro, who returns to action today after recovering from a foot injury he sustained 11 days ago.

Sophomore Rob Abbot will start in the nets for the second time this season after making an incredible 28 saves against Brown, when he played his first full varsity game.

Cornell currently holds a 6-1 record, with wins over Hofstra, Adelphi, Penn, Fairleigh-Dickinson, Dartmouth and Syracuse. Penn, who downed Harvard, 13-4, earlier this year, took the Big Red into overtime before losing, 11-10.

Harvard, 1-6 seeks an upset today to win its first Ivy League victory of the season. Although the odds are against the Crimson, co-captain Green pointed out that the team's philosophy is "to take every game one at a time, the way undefeated teams do."