One question nags the Harvard field hockey team as it prepares to battle Princeton today at 11 a.m. at Soldier's Field:

Can it win with an offense that has averaged less than one goal per game this season?

The Crimson (3-6-1 overall, 2-1 Ivy) must win its battle with the Tigers to keep within a half-game of league-leading Penn (3-0-1 Ivy) which appears headed for its third Ancient Eight title.

The stickwomen dropped a 1-0 decision to the Quakers earlier in the year and will not get another crack at Penn unless the two squads tie for first.

But Harvard could win the crown outright if it wins all three of its remaining Ivy games and Penn loses once.

"We definitely have a shot at the Ivy title," Crimson Coach Nita Lamborghini says.

But how good a shot?

A large part of that question should be answered by early this afternoon when Harvard's game against the Tigers (7-4-1 overall, 1-2-1 Ivy) is in the history books.

The Crimson offense will probably have to score more than once on Princeton goalie Angela Tucci to come out on top. Because while Tucci's play this year has been outstanding--she has stopped 102 shots while allowing only eight goals--Princeton is predominately an offensive power that scores early and often.

The Tigers--coming off a 5-0 rout of C.W. Post and a 4-0 drubbing of Yale--are led by Co-Captain Sue McCarter (two goals, eight assists) and forward Sue Gouchoe (five goals, three assists) who will give the sterling Crimson defense a run for its money.

But if anyone is prepared to meet the Tiger challenge, it is Harvard's defense.

Led by goalie Denise Katsias and defender Anne Kelly, the Crimson has given up only 15 goals in a season in which it has played six of the top 20 teams in the country.

"We play a very competitive schedule," Lamborghini says. "And the good thing about it is that it makes us better."

It certainly has made the defense better.

In its last two games, the Crimson defense turned back 32 shots and 21 penalty corners while allowing only one goal.