Defense wins championships, and especially hockey games.

Unfortunately for the Harvard women's hockey team, this timeless concept did not work in its favor Sunday, when the Crimson fell 2-1 to Princeton.

The Princeton defense stifled the Crimson attack all day, thanks primarily to the play of goalie Kari Rosenkrantz, who was nearly perfect in net.

On offense, the Tigers were simply more opportunistic than the Crimson, netting the gamewinner in the second period during a scramble for the puck in front of Harvard goalie Erin Villiotte.

The game started poorly for Harvard, as Princeton jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Becky Issel's goal at 2:13 of the first period.

The Crimson seemed to wake up after that, and their offense, sparked primarily by senior Sandra Whyte, began to carry the play.

Harvard broke into the scoring column later in the first period. Whyte collected a pass from senior Jen Minkus at the right of the Princeton net and slid it cross-crease to a well-positioned Ginny Simonds. Simonds buried the backhand, evening the contest at 1 all.

From there, it was downhill for the Harvard attack. In spite of several fierce rushes by Whyte and multiple chances on rebounds in front of Rosenkrantz, the Crimson could not convert again.

For their part, the Harvard defense, led by Captain Bev Stickles and Villiotte, held the Princeton attack largely in check.

Other than Tiger Liz White's game winning shot at 11:11 of the second period, the Princeton attack issued few threats.

Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of the game for Harvard was its inability to convert in special teams situations. The team went 0-4 on the power play in the third period.

To meet with success in their upcoming Beanpot matchup against Northeastern, the Crimson will need to jump on the loose pucks and forecheck with the intensity it displayed during most of third period.