Crimson hopes for a second consecutive national squash championship suffered a severe blow Saturday when a vengeful Tiger team felled the racquetmen by a score of 6-3.

The combination of playing at Princeton before a home crowd and a desire for retribution after last year's last minute victory at Hemenway sparked the Princeton team. As Crimson captain Clark Bain said after the match, "Everyone played their best and really put out for the team, but it is definitely hard to overcome the homecourt advantage."

The Hemenway inhabitants' sole chance for a piece of the nine-man national title rests on the slim chance that Yale--a team which is surprisingly strong this year and shows signs of being a formidable contender--upsets the Tigers and the Crimson and wins the rest of its matches. Harvard would then share the crown with Yale and Princeton, which, Bain said, "is at this point certainly within the realm of possibility."

None of the three wins came easily for the racquetmen. In the second slot, Mitch Reese fought off a challenge from Princetonian George MacFarland to win his match three games to one. Meanwhile, number three Chip Robie, the player who clinched last year's triumph, maintained his personal dominance over his Tiger opponents by coming back after losing the first game, 15-13, to win, 3-1.

Freshman Jim Lubowitz captured the remaining Crimson victory in the ninth position. After being thrashed by Rich Zabe 15-5 in the opener, Lubowitz climbed back into the match with a clutch 16-15 win in the second game. Lubowitz then dispatched his opponent with 15-11 and 15-10 victories.

In the premier position, freshman Brad Desaulniers dropped his first college match in three outings. His loss terminates a string of Desaulniers victories which began five years ago when Brad's older brother, Mike, first stepped onto the Hemenway courts in his freshman season.

Desaulniers the younger lost to Tiger John Nimick 3-1 in a seesaw bout which provided spectators with both tie-breaker play and a lopsided 15-4 laugher that Nimick took.

Raquetmen Pound Middies, Take 7-2 Victory Yesterday

Quenching their disappointment at having seen national championship hopes fade with the 6-3 loss to Princeton on Saturday, the racquetmen rebounded, defeating Navy 7-2 yesterday.

"It was not an easy victory," co-captain Clark Bain said yesterday, adding, "we had to come back from a tough loss to beat Navy soundly."

Brad Desaulniers, recovered from his previous day's loss, opening with a 3-0 shut out over John Walls to win in the number-one position.

Geordie Lemmon, in the number three slot, beat Midshipman Tim Ewing in a scrappy five game match. After dropping the first two games 13-16 and 12-15, Lemmon fought back under pressure to win the third game 15-8, and even the match in a fourth-game tiebreaker. In the fifth and decisive game, Lemmon destroyed Ewing, 15-1.

The anticipated warm courts apparently created little difficulties as Mitch Reese, a previous day's winner, Bain, Cahrlie Duffy and John Dinneen convincingly dispatched their opponents in 3-0 sweeps.

The squad's only losses were had by number three man Chip Robie in a see-saw, five game match, and Steve Bakalar in the number eight slot.