Sparked by the first of two Dave Acorn goals the Crimson soccer team came alive towards the end of the first half to take a 2-1, come-from-behind victory from Princeton Saturday on the Business School field.

The hard-fought victory raised Harvard's Ivy League record to 3-2 and kept the Crimson in mathematical contention for the title--two games behind 5-0 Cornell, with two contests remaining on the schedule.

Less than a minute into the game, though, the outlook was as bleak as the grey skies overhead. Tiger forward Jim Hansen beat Crimson fullback Geoff Hargadon on a pass from Allan Marshall, leaving goalie Fred Herold virtually no chance of stopping the score at 0:57.

Practically before you could say "F. Scott Fitzgerald," Princeton led, 1-0. Maybe the Tigers' upset win over Brown the previous week had not been a fluke.

Indeed, Princeton outhustled Harvard for the first half hour of play, taking charge of the fast-paced, back-and-forth action. Coach George Ford admitted after the game that "we were asleep the first 30 minutes."

Herold Leads

But the defense, led by the smooth Herold, held tough against the Tigers. Then suddenly, the Crimson came alive. "We got aggressive and looked like we wanted the ball," Ford said.

Lyman Bullard and Mark Zimering kept the ball moving to the front line, which started pressuring the Tiger defense. One Harvard shot skipped just by the front of the net and went out of bounds.

A few minutes later, Chris Saunders leaped high and headed Bullard's corner kick to the right side of the goalmouth. Zimering kept the ball in play, kicking it into a scramble in front of the net, where Acorn sneaked a shot past goalie Sergio Zeballos and lunging fullback Bill Exley to tie the game at 39:37.

Princeton came out charging after halftime, but Herold stopped a sizzling shot and two near breakaways. The Harvard booters had no intention of letting Princeton take charge of the second half, though, and they quickly shifted the pressure to the other end of the field.

The Winning Tally

Acorn popped a shot which the Tiger goalie deflected, but he hustled for his own rebound and, surrounded by three fullbacks and the diving goalie, blasted a shot high into the net at 4:41 for what proved to be the winning tally.

While Harvard fullbacks Kevin Jiggetts, Ralph Booth and Hargadon stopped the Tigers cold for most of the second half, the offense kept creating good scoring chances.

Bullard drilled a shot just wide, Acorn had an apparently sure goal deflected by the goalie, and George Grassby kicked a liner only inches over the crossbar.

Princeton nearly tied the game with 12 minutes to go when Booth kicked the ball backwards off his own crossbar, Herold dived to the corner and could only get a hand on the bouncing ball, but Princeton's Marshall glanced the ensuing shot off the post and wide of the net.

With only seconds remaining, the Tigers threatened again when a pack of players swarmed around the net after a direct kick. Herold leaped above the pack to snatch the ball, and with it, the game.

Ford Disappointed

Though disappointed with the first 30 minutes of play, Ford said that when his players "thought about the game and we played it wide we looked good and created scoring chances."

Next week, Harvard journies to Providence to face a twice-beaten but still formidable Brown squad. "I'm not going to get too excited right now," Ford said, "but Princeton beat Brown with a lot of hustle." And, well, draw your own conclusions.