Saturday, the Harvard men's lacrosse team didn't play catch-up.

And it didn't squander a fourth period lead.

But it did look back.

After Nick Nero's shot from 15 feet broke a 1-1 tie early in Saturday's game against Princeton at Ohiri Field, the Crimson charged ahead by four goals at halftime and finished with an 11-9 victory before 400 spectators.

The win--its first in three games--lifted the Crimson to 6-3 overall and 3-2 in the Ivy League.

Meanwhile, the Tigers--who have suffered three one-goal loses this season--fell to 1-9 overall, 1-1 Ivy.

"We moved the ball around well," Harvard Coach Bob Scalise said. "And we had the advantage in team speed."

After wins over Penn and St. John's earlier in the year--in which the Crimson came from behind to pull out upsets in the fourth quarter--Harvard was the favorite in Saturday's contest.

But the Tigers came within striking range late in the second half.

And memories of the Crimson's loss to Yale two weeks ago, in which Harvard took a two-goal lead into the final stanza only to see the Bulldogs run away with a 13-9 triumph, couldn't have been far from the laxmen's minds.

"We might have relaxed a little bit," Scalise said. "And when that happens, you always worry about a comeback."

Princeton fell behind, 11-6, with eight minutes left in the game after Crimson Co-Captain Tom Corcoran, charging from the right, flipped a shot past Tiger goalie John Wright.

But the Tigers pumped in three goals in two minutes to pull within three of a tie game.

Princeton attack John Donovan flipped in a shot from the right with seven minutes left in the contest.

Junior Rick Kirschner followed a minute later with a shove from in close that rolled off Harvard goalie Mark Vita's chest and into the net.