Harvard lost the game because of its continuing struggles on special teams.

“The roller coaster continues,” Mazzoleni said. “This has been a very difficult team to figure out what happens next.

“I don’t know what’s coming next. I do my best to control that, but it’s in that locker room. They’ve got to find it.”

Princeton’s game-winning goal came 56 seconds into the third period off a turnover deep in the Harvard zone.

Patrick Neundorfer forced the turnover behind the Crimson net and found Chris Owen in front, who popped it home.

Equally important in the loss were Harvard’s struggles on the power play. The Crimson went 0-for-3 on the man-advantage with only three shots on goal, and Harvard managed no shots on goal during a five-on-three early in the second period.

Harvard’s only goal of the game came when senior forward Tim Pettit picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone during an ill-timed Princeton line change and skated down the left side. Pettit fired from the bottom of the circle, and the puck caught the far post before bouncing in.

—Staff writer Timothy M. McDonald can be reached at tmcdonal@fas.harvard.edu.