Sports Shorts

The football team, under new head coach Walt Harris, got off to a winning start with a 41-38 road victory at Navy on September 10. Then came a dispiriting 20-17 home loss to UC-Davis on September 17, Stanford’s first-ever defeat at the hands of a Division I-AA team. Another loss, 44-20, to Oregon at home on October 1, did not improve morale. But then came the 24-21 win over Washington State on October 8, and Harris crowed that he was “elated” about the team’s fourth-quarter win. “Hopefully the fourth game [in the season] was the turning point for us,” he said. . . . No. 3 men’s water polo started the season strong with a second-place finish at the SoCal Tournament September 18, losing narrowly to the then-undefeated USC Trojans, 6-5. On September 29, the Cardinal routed the University of the Pacific 14-4, with nine players scoring. Two days later Stanford (8-2) lost to No. 1 Cal, 9-5, then rallied on October 8 to open Mountain Pacific Sports Federation conference play with a 9-2 win over the University of the Pacific. At press time, senior Thomas Hopkins was leading the squad in scoring with 23 goals.