Having partially recovered the confidence that it had gained prior to Christmas break, the Harvard fencing team is in Princeton, N.J., today seeking to establish itself as a legitimate contender for the Ivy League title.

The Tiger squad that the Crimson will face today established itself this week as one of the up-and-coming teams of Eastern fencing with a stunning 14-13 upset over national powerhouse NYU. The Tiger upset ended a 37-match win streak for NYU, a team that trounced Harvard a week ago, 20-7.

Princeton is 3-2 for the season having topped Cornell, 14-13, while outclassing Rutgers, 17-10. The Tigers have lost to Penn and Navy. The Quakers turned Princeton back, 16-11.

Harvard has yet to beat any strong team other than CCNY, but that was before vacation and since then the Crimson performance has been lax. In the three matches this month Harvard has yet to show any of the spark or polish that the Crimson displayed before Christmas.

Even though Edo Marion's squad humbled Trinity and Brandeis, both teams are pathetic forms of competition, and Harvard has been sloppy against them. After the Brandeis victory, Marion said that he was unhappy with the way his squad had not been able to take charge and dominate the weak opponents. "We should be dictating to them out there," he said. "Instead we are letting them control the tempo of the matches."

The Tigers are led by Dan Wygodsky, a two-time All-American in epee and Rick Lawrence, the 1972 Eastern foil champion. Bill Keslar is the top sabre man.

Last year the Crimson edged Princeton, 14-13, at the IAB en route to Harvard's second-place finish in the Ivies.