While the Harvard defense did not manage a first-half shutout this week against the squad, the Crimson still jumped to an 8-1 lead, allowing the team to cruise for the remainder of the game.

“Our energy was a little low in that game,” Minnis said. “We were probably looking ahead a little, after what happened last week.”

Most players earned minutes in the game, but Price led the team with four goals and five steals.

PRINCETON 9, HARVARD 6

In the sole loss of the weekend, Harvard battled it out with the Ivy rival Tigers, who were able to outscore the Crimson by one goal each quarter.

Considering the embarrassing 12-3 defeat Harvard suffered at the hands of Princeton when they played last February, the loss represented a strong improvement by the Crimson from last season.

“They had some good shooters, but I wish we had won,” Dukes said. “Once we start developing more as a team we’ll have the confidence they do. We’re getting there.”

While Harvard made a solid effort against the Tigers, weak passes and miscommunications on offensive ultimately cost the Crimson.

“We made mistakes, and good teams like Princeton know how to capitalize on that,” Minnis said.

HARVARD 14, BUCKNELL 5

The Crimson kicked off the weekend on Saturday morning with its first dominant win of the invitational against Bucknell.

Harvard’s defense showed early promise by not allowing any “natural” Bison goals. Bucknell was only able to score in man-up situations, one of the Crimson’s most noteworthy achievements of the weekend, according to Minnis.

“We can do things like [that] this year that we couldn’t do last year,” Minnis said. “We grew last year, and now we’ve added…new layers. We’re still growing as a team, and I want to add to that and keep going.”

—Staff writer Patrick Galvin can be reached at pgalvin@college.harvard.edu.