At least two teams from Harvard faced off late last night in the Boston Billiard Club's second annual Beanpocket Tournament, a collegiate pool competition among schools in Eastern Massachusetts.

The winning five-member Harvard team from last night's preliminary games will proceed to the finals on April 7 to determine the Beanpocket Champions, according to Chris G. Decresce, general manager of the club.

Team members said they have been practicing hard for the tournament.

"My roommates and I play a lot in our [Cabot House] Junior Common Room, and we stayed here over last summer and played at the Boston Billiard Club," said Nelson Wang '92, the captain of one of Harvard's teams.

Some members of Wang's team can be found on Cabot House's prestigious pool ladder.

Wang counts some of the best pool players of Cabot House among his teammates. Perhaps the most formidable weapon in the troop is Julie E. Oppenshaw '94, a sophomore transfer student from England who was raised on pool, or snookers.

"We think that she'll be able to beat any woman she'll play," said Wang. Regulations state that each pool team must feature at least one female player, according to Wang.

There was only one other team, led by John E. Shutt '92, which was slated to compete against Wang's in the Harvard preliminaries, according to Decresce.

Decresce said he was disappointed that the Harvard turnout was not as good as it could be. "We would like more teams from Harvard," Decresce said.

"We've gotten a big response from some of the other schools, probably because of location," he added.

But the tournament benefits not only the participants. This year the proceeds of the tournament will go directly to the Student Environmental Action Coalition.

Modeled After Beanpot

The competition is expected to raise "close to $1000," equal to the sum donated last year by the event to the homeless shelter, Families in Transition, according to Decresce.

The Beanpocket Tournament was inaugurated last year on the model of the Beanpot Tournament, an annual hockey competition between Harvard, Boston University, Boston College and Northeastern University, according to Decresce.

Nine Boston-area colleges are represented in the four-week-long pool tournament, which takes place simultaneously between eight institutions at the Worcester branch of the Boston pool club.