Things are not always what they seem.

Although Harvard men’s lacrosse defeated Brown, 9-6, last night under the lights of Harvard Stadium, the Crimson (3-5, 2-1 Ivy) was not entirely in control. The game came down to the wire, with the Bears (6-3, 1-2) falling just short of a comeback, as only after co-captain Brian Mahler scored with 2:39 was a Harvard victory assured.

Before the game-winner, the Crimson offense had given up four goals in a 10-minute scoring drought.

Going into the fourth with a comfortable 5-2 lead, freshman Jason Duboe notched another to make it 6-2 with just over a minute and a half gone.

With Harvard relaxing, Brown capitalized, scoring twice in man-up situations.

“I think when people are down they start taking chances and they make better plays,” Crimson coach Scott Anderson said. “I think that some of those plays looked like forces to me, but maybe they were shots that they wouldn’t have taken or feeds they wouldn’t have made. That’s just the way it goes.”

After Mahler’s goal, the Harvard attackers broke loose, rattling off two more scores to finish the game 9-6. In the last two minutes Duboe found the back of the net for the 10th time this season, giving himself a hat trick.

His first score came late in the third quarter, when with 2:39 left he found himself trapped between four Brown defenders battering him in the back. The freshman was able to shake each one by making quick, athletic moves and changes of directions for the goal.

“I got in a little bit of trouble,” Duboe said. “I was trying to force it a little too much. I was looking to pull it out, but space opened up and I took a shot and was lucky it went in.”

Sophomore Max Motschwiller scored the final goal of the game with 20 seconds left before going down.

He would later be carried off on a cart.

“He got hit in the leg and I’m hoping it’s not a thigh bruise, those can be pretty bad in terms of taking him out for a while,” Anderson said. “That’s a spot where we don’t have a lot of options, so Max is a really important part of our team.”

The game started off strong for the Crimson, with co-captain John Henry Flood winning the opening faceoff, and senior Greg Cohen scoring twice in the first seven minutes.

Harvard took 13 shots to the Bears’ three. Senior Carle Stenmark added another goal with 6:33 remaining to make it the 3-0 score that would stick until just into the second.

“We had the ball in our own end in the first half and it allowed our defense to play fresh and to play as well as they could play physically,” Anderson said “It was a good balance overall.”

The next frame was much like the fourth in which Brown dominated the battle for possession. The Bears, however, could not seem to find the rhythm they would discover later on, scoring just once despite taking 13 shots to the Crimson’s six. In the quarter sophomore goalie Joe Pike made seven of his 16 saves. The game went into the break wide open, with a total of just four scores in the first half.

In the past weeks Harvard has practiced more judicious shooting, taking fewer attempts but better ones.

Last night’s third frame was a good indication of the success such a plan can have.

In addition to Duboe’s dominating score, Stenmark made a strong pass from behind the goal to classmate Evan Calvert, who rocketed the ball from 10 yards out into the back of the net with 1:07 remaining to give the Crimson its largest lead at 5-1.

“I think one of [Duboe’s] goals looked like he had run into traffic, which should have been a bad spot and he had the physical ability to get out of the spot and get an opportunity,” Anderson said. “That is not coaching, that is just physical ability...I think two of his goals were examples of just a great athlete having the confidence to try it.”

Harvard is back in action this weekend against Princeton in N.J. The squad has struggled facing the Tigers away over the years, but a win would help the Crimson’s bid as one of the top teams in the Ivy League.

—Staff writer Madeleine I. Shapiro can be reached at mshapiro@fas.harvard.edu