The Harvard men's field hockey team trumpeted in a new era in the sport when they defeated UMass yesterday in what is, believed to be the first men's intercollegiate field hockey game ever played in the United States.

The Crimson squad was organized last year by junior Felix Twaalfhoven, a native of Holland, and graduate student Murphin Fernandez, who hails from Tanzania. The UMass team was formed only three weeks ago.

And You Were There

The significance of the contest, held at Soliders Field, will probably best be appreciated by posterity. The two teams battled to a scoreless tie in the first half before the Crimson's Stephen Potts drilled home the clinching tally.

The only American-born member of the polyglot squad is Steve Kowal, who was originally an ice hockey goalie. Other team members come from England, Malaysia India, and France. The fledgling field hockey team's only other game this fall was an exhibition against the Islanders, a team of West Indian players based in New York.