After starting 4-1 for the third-straight season, the No. 11 Harvard men’s lacrosse team still had a lingering question: would it be able to finally make the next step and compete regularly with the likes of Brown, Cornell, and Princeton?

That question remains unanswered.

Despite a gutsy second-half comeback, the Crimson (4-2, 0-1 Ivy) continued its struggles against the class of Ivy League lacrosse, falling to the No. 17 Bears (3-1, 1-0) in both squads’ Ivy opener, 13-11.

“It was pretty disappointing, considering this was a really big game for us,” sophomore Jeff Cohen said. “We really struggled with clearing, but that being said, we did do some things well. We worked hard, and we definitely didn’t give up. We did fight back.”

Junior attack Dean Gibbons opened the scoring when he rolled behind the goal and swept the ball under Brown goalie Matt Chriss to put Harvard ahead, 1-0, at the 10:21 mark of the first quarter.

The Bears responded five minutes later when Carey Collins rifled one from 10 yards out past sophomore goalie Christian Coates. Just 24 seconds later, Coates tried to clear, but his long pass was intercepted, and Brown’s quick offense rode a fast break to take its first lead of the game, 2-1.

The Bears would rattle off four straight goals—including three within one minute—to take a 6-1 lead less than a minute into the second quarter. Coates was pulled in favor of freshman Harry Krieger after allowing five goals and recording only one save in the first frame.

“It was a disappointing first quarter, because I thought we got the better of the play for the majority of the quarter,” Crimson coach John Tillman said. “They got the better of the play in ground balls and faceoffs, and that’s a lot of extra possessions. It’s hard to give that many opportunities to a good team like Brown.”

Sophomore Terry White broke the Bears’ run with his sixth goal of the season only to have Brown’s Thomas Muldoon respond with his second goal of the game two minutes later. Krieger would settle down between the pipes and make two impressive point-blank saves while Cohen and sophomore Kevin Vaughan each notched unassisted goals to bring Harvard within three at halftime, 7-4.

Early in the third quarter, co-captain Travis Burr found White for his second goal of the game, cutting the Crimson’s deficit to two.

But the Bears’ speed and command of the faceoffs would prove the difference over the remainder of the quarter as Brown would score four of the game’s next five goals to take an 11-6 lead near the end of the third frame.

Cohen’s second goal of the day in the first minute of the fourth quarter would narrow the score to 11-8. The Bears never faltered though, coming right back to extend the lead to four with only 10 minutes left in the contest.

“Offensively we did some things well,” Cohen said. “We have to keep working hard, getting ground balls, and we have to finish our chances better on offense.”

White’s fourth goal of the game just 90 seconds after Cohen’s third closed the gap to 12-10. Brown’s defense started to get a little bit rattled, and Cohen took advantage when he brought the goalie out of position behind the goal and ran around the crease to bounce it in just above the recovering Chriss.

With just over a minute left, Chriss took the ball all the way down the field untouched and got off a shot that went past Krieger as he fell to the ground. Chriss was ruled in the crease when he shot, and the goal was nullified—giving Harvard one last chance to equalize with 1:46 left on the clock. The Crimson was never able to control possession in the waning minutes of the game, and Andrew Feinberg’s goal with 53 seconds left sealed the 13-11 victory for the Bears.

“We knew this wasn’t going to be easy,” Tillman said. “But I really believe in this group. They really care about each other, and there’s a lot of potential out there. I’m excited to see how good they can get.”

Overall, Harvard was only able to convert 19 of 26 clear opportunities and won a season-low 40 percent of its faceoffs. The Crimson outshot Brown, 39-32, but was dominated on the ground balls, 35-24. Krieger stepped up to record nine saves in goal and kept Harvard competitive throughout the game.

“We thought Christian did a great job [against Colgate] and that he earned the right to start today,” Tillman said. “We were disappointed he didn’t have the start we thought he would have, but I thought Harry stepped up and gave us an emotional lift when we really needed it.”

—Staff writer Colin Whelehan can be reached at whelehan@fas.harvard.edu.