Sophomore Natalie Curtis scored five goals for the third time this season, bringing her season total to 30. While Curtis was on fire, achieving a hat trick in just 14 minutes, her teammates were unable to match her offensive output.

Sophomore Natalie Curtis notched her third five-goal game this season as the Harvard women’s lacrosse team faced off against No. 10 Princeton on Saturday.

Despite the strong effort, the women lost 14-8 in the third Ivy League match of the year.

After an evenly-matched first half, the Tigers (7-4, 4-0 Ivy League) used two consecutive runs to pull away from the Crimson (3-9, 1-2 Ivy League) and secure the victory.

Both teams traded goals throughout the first period. Curtis led Harvard in scoring during this time, scoring a hat trick in 14 minutes. Princeton sophomore Amo Ashley provided two goals in the first half, on her way to four on the afternoon.

With five minutes left in the frame, junior Perry Barlow, on a free-position shot, slid the ball past Tiger goalkeeper Colleen O’Boyle to give the Crimson a 5-4 advantage.

However, Princeton’s Christine Casaceli, with only 80 seconds remaining, evened the scoreboard going into halftime.

As the game returned from break, the Tigers took control of the entire second frame.

In the final 30 minutes of the game, Princeton handily outshot Harvard 20-13, controlled the majority of ground balls (13-7), and managed to turnover the ball fewer times (9-12).

The latter statistic may be attributed not only to strong play by the Tigers, but also to mental errors by the Crimson.

“We can be successful,” said sophomore Caroline Simmons in an earlier interview. “If we can work on eliminating the turnovers.”

Princeton junior Kathleen Miller led the Tiger offense in the second period. Miller scored all four of her goals after halftime. Curtis posted two more tallies in the second frame to keep Harvard on pace.

The last two goals brought Curtis to a team-high 30 goals scored this season. Following a goal by freshman Kaitlin Martin, the Crimson was within two at 10-8.

This goal, however, would be the last for Harvard, as the team went scoreless in the final ten minutes of the game.

Sophomore Katie Lewis-Lamonica touched off a 4-0 run by Princeton, a scoring frenzy in which four different players found the net for the Tigers. The offensive drive put the Princeton ahead for good.

Saturday’s game marks the 14th consecutive season that the Crimson has lost to the Tigers and the fourth straight loss for Harvard. With the victory, the Tigers continue a five-game win streak and keep their hopes of an Ivy title shot alive.

Princeton remains the only team in the 2006 season that is unbeaten in Ivy League play.

The Crimson have only Ivy League matches from this point on. Harvard hopes to reach the .500 mark in league play with a victory over No. 15 Dartmouth on Wednesday.