The Tigers came back with scores by Armour and Mike Grossman before the period came to an end, cutting the Harvard lead to 8-6 heading into the fourth. But the Crimson would hold off the Tigers in the final period, and emerge with wins over its conference rival in back-to-back years for the first time since 1987-88.

“It feels great,” Gibbons said. “Before the win last year, we hadn’t beaten Princeton for over 20 years. Now we’re trying to start a streak of our own.”

Fiorito finished with 16 saves to Krieger’s 15. The teams took an equal amount of shots in each of the first two quarters, but Princeton went on the attack in the second half and out-shot Harvard 27-12.

“Harry played great yesterday,” Gibbons said. “One of his best games of the season. Considering the talent they have, its quite an accomplishment for him to have the game he did.”

The victory gives Harvard the ability to control its own destiny to reach the Ivy League Tournament. With a win over Yale next weekend, the Crimson will earn the third seed, and the ability to avoid No. 3 Cornell in the first round of the four-team event in Ithaca, N.Y.

The Crimson was in the same situation last year—facing a win-and-in situation against the Bulldogs in the season finale—but missed the tournament after falling by one goal. As with Saturday’s contest, Harvard is determined not to let history repeat itself.

“It’s a lot about our mindset,” Hull said. “If we go out there as play as hard as we can, play our brand of lacrosse—fast-paced, up-beat—if we can do that, we’re confident we can pull it out and get into the Ivy League Tournament.”

—Staff writer Scott A. Sherman can be reached at ssherman13@college.harvard.edu.