“If you make a lot of dumb mistakes against Princeton, it’ll cost you big,” freshman attacker Mike McBride said.

Offensively, the Tigers are indeed dangerous, but, in this case, the Crimson’s best defense may really be a good offense.

Harvard, led by junior attacker Matt Primm, who earned a spot on the Ivy League Honor Roll with two goals against Cornell, will try to stake itself to an early lead.

To do that, the Crimson will test Princeton’s weak goaltender from the outset, assuming it can get by Princeton’s own member of the Ivy Honor Roll, junior defender Damien Davis.

If the Crimson can get ahead, the offense will try to possess the ball, keeping it out of the sticks of the Tigers’ big three attackers—senior B. J. Prager, junior Sean Hartofilis and sophomore Ryan Boyle.

Once that trio gains possession, however, Harvard’s defense will have its work cut out for it. Prager has 101 career goals, while Boyle has scored a point in every collegiate game in which he has played. Hartofilis, too, is explosive, as he demonstrated with 5 goals in an 18-4 blowout of Penn last Tuesday.

It won’t be easy, then, but the Crimson is confident it can outwork the Tigers and, by playing up to its potential, come away with the victory. Harvard isn’t hoping just to keep it close, either.

“We’re looking for a win,” Gottschall said. “We’re not looking to just play well.”

If a few things go their way, both the Crimson men and women could turn their seasons around and, by taming the Tigers, turn college lacrosse on its tail.