Probably the last team a struggling Harvard men's lacrosse team wanted to face was Princeton.

Three time defending national champs. Four straight Ivy titles. Undefeated in the Ancient Eight this year.

Still, defying expectations, the Crimson (3-6, 1-3 Ivy) kept it close in the first half, trailing only 6-4. But the Tigers' (5-3, 4-0) talent took over at the start if the second half rattling off five consecutive goals to win 12-8 Saturday at Class of 1952 Stadium in New Jersey.

"We need to work hard for the whole game," junior attacker Lawson DeVries said. "We know we have the players to win, but we haven't put together a complete game."

The Tigers second half run actually began at 14:37 of the second quarter when sophomore midfielder Matt Bailer found the back of the net for his second of three goals on the day.

Just 39 seconds into the third quarter sophomore attacker Matt Streiber made the score 7-4, netting one with the man advantage.

"At the beginning of the second half we came out sluggish," said DeVries, who had two goals and an assist for the Crimson. "With our young team, we didn't know how to react."

Bailer in particular hurt the Crimson. He had a career day for Princeton scoring three goals and going a perfect 12-for-12 on faceoffs.

Harvard had difficulty maintaining any possession of the ball in the fateful third quarter. Bailer was largely responsible, winning most of his draws cleanly to himself.