If you happen to walk past Hemenway Gym tonight around 7 p.m., don't be surpised to see tanks, barracks and artillery.

The Harvard men's squash team will be facing Yale for a share of the Ivy League and regular-season national championships.

"It's going to be a war," Yale Coach Dave Talbott said. "It'll be 5-4 either way. It's going to be our toughest match of the year. We haven't beaten Harvard in 27 years."

A war? Is that true, Harvard Coach Dave Fish?

"We're going to fight like the Spartans used to," said Fish, who is coaching his last dual match. "We're either going to come home carrying our shields or be on top of them."

Hold on a second. A war?

"It's going to be a pit-bull fight," Harvard Assistant Coach John Anz said. "Hopefully, we will come out a little less bloody. There's not going to be a quick knockout. It's going to be a split decision. It's a fight to the death, there is no in-between."

Yale (11-0 overall, 3-0 Ivy) has already clinched a share of the Ivy and the regular-season national titles, but the Crimson (8-1, 2-1) can cause a three-way tie with Yale and Princeton if it defeats the Elis tonight.

For the first time in the history of collegiate squash, there are two separate nine--man national championships. One is the regular-season title, which is based on a team's record during the year. The second title will be determined by the Intercollegiate Squash Association (ISA) post-season tournament, held in New Haven this weekend.

But for now, the war.

"We're all looking forward to it," Yale's Scott Farber said. "It's definitely one of the biggest matches of the year. We're approaching the match as if we didn't beat Princeton."

A real battle at Hemenway?

"Well it all comes down to this," sophomore George Polsky said. "We didn't come home from Princeton with enough Tiger pelt, so we'll have to settle for some Bulldog hide. It's going to be a dogfight out there, and I'd like to look at it as if it were the master teaching his dog. And of course, we all know who's going to be learning the tricks. In a nutshell, we're so psyched. We're foaming at the mouth."

Many counted the Crimson out of the quest for the regular-season title when it lost to Princeton, 8-1, February 4. But Harvard has won its last five matches, including victories over Penn and Franklin and Marshall.

"Harvard is still a better team than Princeton," Talbott said. "Harvard had several guys coming off injuries when they played Princeton. We know how good the Harvard team is."