The Harvard men’s lacrosse team had every right to be disheartened as it pulled into Providence last night, set to face its third ranked opponent in as many games.

Instead, it was the No. 10 Bears (7-2, 1-1 Ivy), who left the field with an empty feeling, as the Crimson (5-4, 1-2) stole a 12-10 thriller at Stevenson Field.

Trailing 6-4 in the third period and looking its third straight loss in the face—a defeat that would have definitively ended the Crimson’s chances of postseason play—Harvard put together a furious rally to take a two-goal advantage. The Crimson then fought off Brown’s best efforts to come back in the fourth period. With the win-—its first in Ivy League play—Harvard pulls above the .500 mark on the season.

The Crimson was sparked by freshman attackman Brian Mahler, who registered a hat trick, with all three tallies coming in the second half. With the score tied at 6-6 midway through the third period Mahler scored two quick goals, part of a 4-0 run that turned a 6-4 deficit into an 8-6 lead.

Mahler added another score early in the fourth, putting Harvard ahead 9-7 and providing some breathing room after the Bears had narrowed the lead to one.

The Crimson came out of the second half looking sluggish, as Brown scored twice to break the 4-4 tie, threatening to put Harvard away. But sophomore attackman Sean Kane beat Brown goalie Mike Levin to get the Crimson on track and start the crucial run.

Harvard extended its inspired play early on in the fourth period, as freshman attackman Greg Cohen tallied two goals to give the Crimson a 12-8 lead. But the Bears—showing the mettle that befits a nationally-ranked team—roared back to within two with 3:08 remaining.

No. 16 Cornell had rallied from the same two-goal deficit on April 10 in their 9-8 overtime defeat of the Crimson, but this time Harvard bore down and refused to let its third chance to knock off a ranked favorite slip away.

“We could have packed it in after Cornell,” said senior goalie Jake McKenna, who played another solid game between the pipes, finishing with six saves. “But everyone dug deep and stepped up to help us out. This was a huge win in terms of a momentum builder.”

Beating Brown, which came into the game first in the Ivy League, provides a huge boost for Harvard in the highly pressurized—and remarkably short—Ivy season.

With only three league games remaining, the Crimson hopes the upset will propel it through the weekend, when the squad faces off against perennial powerhouse Princeton. The game against the No. 6 Tigers will be Harvard’s fourth straight game against a ranked opponent.

“The fact that [Brown was] ranked so high made the win a little sweeter. And it definitely sends Princeton a message,” Mahler said.

With the pressure of its first Ivy League win behind it, the team can now concentrate on loftier goals.

“There’s nothing better than beating a ranked team,” said freshman midfielder Evan Calvert, who netted two of the seven goals scored by Harvard freshmen. “We’re more pumped up for these ranked opponents. The locker room was really ecstatic; this gets us rolling.”

The first half saw Harvard strike first as Calvert scored an extra-man goal—one of three goals scored with the 6-on-5 advantage. But Brown star attackman Chazz Woodson, who leads the Ivy League with 34 points, scored twice to put Brown ahead.

Sophomore attackman Steve Cohen’s goal capped a 3-0 run by Harvard which gave the Crimson back the lead, but two quick tallies from the Bears knotted the squads at four heading into halftime.

“It was a close game throughout all four quarters,” Mahler said. “It was just a matter of us settling down, playing our game and working together. In the second half, our offense came together.”

The second half surge, thanks in large part to Mahler’s play, moved the Crimson to 5-0 in games in which it scores nine or more goals. Harvard is winless in its four games in which it failed to reach the nine-goal threshold. The trend held last night, as the defense kicked into gear just as the offense began to click, holding Woodson scoreless in the second half.

“People know we have the ability to beat anyone we play,” said senior defenseman Hani Malone. “It’s just a matter of stepping up for 60 minutes.”