As students begin to move into their Houses this weekend, several Harvard athletes--most of whom have been in Cambridge for weeks--will help welcome students back to campus by ringing in the new fall sports season.

Six different Harvard sports teams begin their seasons this weekend, although the defending-Ivy champion football team will not see action until next Saturday, Sep. 19 at Columbia. Still, there will be plenty of action for Harvard sports fans this weekend.

Women's Soccer

The Harvard women's soccer team has the honor of inaugurating the fall season alone. The Crimson will be the lone team in action today as it battles New Hampshire on Ohiri Field at 3 p.m.

Harvard, the defending Ivy League champion, looks to pick up right where it left off last year when the Crimson reached the final eight in the NCAA Tournament, falling to eventual national champion North Carolina.

Coach Tim Wheaton should be all smiles on the sidelines with the return of All-American and co-captain Emily Stauffer to the midfield. Senior forward Naomi Miller, the 1997 Ivy League Player of the Year, and co-captain Devon Bingham will join Stauffer on the Ivy League's most formidable offense.

The Crimson will wrap up the weekend action with another home match versus Penn State on Sunday at noon.

Men's Soccer

The Harvard men's soccer team will see its first action of the year on Sunday afternoon at Ohiri Field. The Crimson will battle Stanford at 2:30 p.m. and hopes to exact revenge on the Cardinal squad that drubbed Harvard, 3-0, last year in Palo Alto.

Harvard's most difficult task will be replacing its only two All-Ivy first teamers, Ricky Le '98 and Ivy Player of the Year Tom McLaughlin '98. With 12 newcomers and only 10 returning letter-winners from a year ago, that will be no easy task.

However, the Crimson does return eight starters from its 1997 team, including captain Andrew Lundquist and senior goalkeeper Jordan Dupuis. Juniors Will Hench and Ryan Keeton will provide experience in the midfield while senior sweeper and two-time All Ivy second teamer Lee Williams will anchor the Crimson's defense in front of Dupuis.

"Obviously, we have a ton of question marks from the outset," said coach Steve Locker. "But we also have a good number of long-term starters and experienced senior leaders."

"It will certainly be tough to replace Ricky and Tommy because they were two of the best players to come through our program in recent years. But at the same time, we could very well have more depth this fall, and that is extremely important," he said.

Men's Water Polo

The Harvard men's water polo team opens its 1998 season this weekend looking to erase the disappointment of its 12-15 1997 campaign.