PRINCETON, N.J.—The Harvard men’s soccer team suffered a strong blow to its Ivy title hopes Saturday, paying for its sluggish play with a 1-0 loss to Princeton at Lourie-Love Field.

“We just didn’t play like we could have,” said junior midfielder Ladd Fritz. “It was more of a game where we beat ourselves, not where Princeton outplayed us.”

The teams remained scoreless until just 10 minutes remained in regulation. Princeton (3-6-4, 1-2-1 Ivy) then broke through, as midfielder Alex Reison sent a long pass to striker Matt Douglas near the top of the penalty box.

Douglas raced between three Harvard defenders before sending a high shot into the net at 80:07. Harvard goalkeeper Jamie Roth had no chance at a save.

The loss means the Crimson (8-4-1, 2-1-1 Ivy) no longer controls its own destiny in the Ivy League race. Harvard currently stands tied for second with Dartmouth, 1.5 games behind No. 25 Penn. Even a win against the Quakers in the regular season finale on Nov. 16 may not be enough to give the Crimson the conference title.

Harvard played without its leading scorer, injured junior midfielder Kevin Ara, Saturday. Two other key contributors—senior Mike Lobach and sophomore Jason Anderson—continue to miss playing time due to injury as well.

The Crimson generated significant pressure on the Tigers’ goal in its attempt to tie the game in the final minutes, but—as was the case all game—the Crimson could not convert on its opportunities.

Harvard’s best chance came with a minute left, when senior forward Charlie Morrow received a cross from freshman midfielder Nick Tormaritis directly in front of the net. Morrow’s shot sailed just inches above the crossbar.

The Crimson was lucky not to have fallen behind much earlier. The team came out sluggish in the first half, generating little pressure and letting the Tigers dictate the tempo of the game. The Crimson managed just one shot on goal before intermission.

Harvard regrouped at the break, however, and controlled much of the play after halftime.

The Crimson had two excellent chances to open the scoring 15 minutes into the second half, but missed on both opportunities. Tomaritis sent a shot that just missed the far crossbar, and Morrow could not collect a bouncing ball on a point-blank chance before being blocked by Princeton goalkeeper Jason White.

“They dominated the first half, but we dominated the second half,” Kerr said. “We had their number, and had a lot of chances, but at the end of the day we didn’t execute.”

On the defensive for much of the second half, Princeton relied on counterattacks to generate its scoring chances. Harvard dodged a bullet at 78:50 when Darren Spicer’s open shot scooted past a diving Roth but just glanced off the front of the right post.

The Tigers would score on another counterattack just minutes later, however.

“They got good opportunities against the run of play and put it away,” Kerr said, “and we paid the price for not executing.”

Harvard next travels to Hanover, N.H., on Saturday for a critical game against Dartmouth. A victory over the second-place Big Green would put the Crimson in prime position to play Penn for the Ivy crown should the Quakers slip up before then.

“It wasn’t a great performance today,” Kerr said. “But if we can bounce back and win the rest of our games, we‘ll still have a chance to win the league.”

—Staff writer Elijah M. Alper can be reached at alper@fas.harvard.edu.