“We didn’t mark up,” Kurcz said. “We just lost our marks.”

The Crimson hustled to regain the lead before the break but was whistled for going offside in the 39th minute and then had a shot blocked in the 45th minute.

The teams traded shot attempts throughout the second half, but Millet and Barrett—who replaced Bledsoe in goal for the Bears—kept their opponents off the scoreboard, making three saves apiece before the 80th minute.

Brown finally broke the deadlock in the 84th when Pitney headed a high cross into the cage past Millet.

The Bears managed to halt Harvard’s final attempts to send the game to overtime, preserving the 2-1 victory.

“We started off really well—fired up and ready to play,” Kurcz said. “Our problem this game was that we didn’t keep that intensity for the whole game, and Brown did. You can’t let down for one second or the other team’s going to capitalize on it.”

With the defeat, the Crimson drops to fourth place in the conference standings, trailing first-place Columbia by two games in the loss column with only three Ivy League games left to play.

“The biggest problem now is that we’re not in control of our own destiny,” Kurcz said. “What we have to do now is win out and hope for the best. It’s always a tough spot to have to rely on other people, but that’s we got ourselves into, and we’re going to make the most of it.”

—Staff writer Martin Kessler can be reached at martin.kessler@college.harvard.edu.