CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – One of the best lacrosse games of the 2026 season came down to the wire on Saturday at Jordan Field, with No. 2 Princeton emerging as the victor in a thriller against No. 9 Harvard, 15-14. The Crismon (9-3, 3-2 Ivy) held the lead with just under two minutes remaining, but the Tigers (10-2, 4-1 Ivy) made a late surge and potted the game-winning goal with 17 second left to escape Boston with a win. The back-and-forth battle came down to the wire and featured seven ties and seven lead changes in what became an instant classic between the Ivy rivals.
Harvard Highlights
- Teddy Malone led the offense with five points, scoring three goals and dishing out two assists.
- Matt Barraco won 15 faceoffs at the X in his best performance of the season.
- Charlie Muller caused two turnovers and grabbed four ground balls to aid the defensive effort.
- Jack Speidell stuffed the stat sheet with five ground balls and two goals.
- Logan Turley, Andrew Perry and Nathan Cobery each potted a pair of goals.
- Owen Guest grabbed four ground balls.
- Harvard forced four Princeton failed clears and 13 Tiger turnovers.
How it Happened
- Over 3,800 fans flooded into Jordan Field this afternoon to celebrate Cambridge Day and see Harvard take on Princeton in a top 10 Ivy League matchup.
- Two of the best teams in the nation – who have already clinched spots in the Ivy League Tournament – were squaring off for position in the standings ahead of the tournament in early May.
- Princeton drew first blood in the battle, scoring on its first possession to take the early lead. After a series of empty possessions on both ends, the Tigers added another tally, improving its advantage to 2-0. The Crimson fought back midway through the quarter after Logan Ip caused a turnover and Graham Stevens made his first save of the day to spring a Harvard goal by Andrew Perry. One of the craziest goals of the season, Perry spun in towards the crease before the ball was jarred free and bounced into the back of the net.
- The Tigers answered with another goal before Perry used more magic to get a bouncing pass across the crease and into the stick of Nathan Cobery, who beat the buzzer with a goal to make the score 3-2 at the end of the first quarter.
- Another pair of goals were scored by the Tigers early in the third quarter to make the score 5-2 in favor of Princeton but Harvard answered with a ferocious four-goal scoring ride to take back the momentum.
- Perry added his second goal of the game to start the run with 8:36 remaining in the quarter. Matt Barraco kept winning the battle at the faceoff X to spark the Crimson run that continued with a goal 17 second later from Logan Ip. Another faceoff win led to a Teddy Malone goal and the run was capped off by John Aurandt IV, who was fed by Malone on a creative cross field pass late on the shot clock. The Crimson run gave Harvard a 6-5 lead in just 2:10 of game time. Princeton fought back, ending the scoring run and tying the game at six all with a goal at the six-minute mark.
- The Crimson did not blink after the goal and quickly started another three-goal run late in the quarter. Jack Speidell scored his first goal of the game to start it and – after a timely save from Graham Stevens – Francisco Cortes added his first goal of the day.
- Harvard scored the final tally of the half after a Princeton failed clear led to fast break with Charlie Muller running downhill towards the cage. Muller fed a pass to Malone, who deked out the Princeton goalie and score to put Harvard in front 9-6 at the halftime break.
- The second half began with Princeton killing off a penalty and stringing together two consecutive goals to cut into the Harvard lead and make the score 9-8 in favor of Harvard.
- Logan Turley responded for the Crimson, using a nifty swim dodge to beat this defender and score his first goal of the game. The Tigers punched back, scoring two more goals in the third quarter to tie the game at 10-10 midway through the frame. A series of saves by both goalies led to a string of empty possessions to end the half.
- The Tigers got a huge momentum boost at the start of the fourth after it killed off a two-minute cross checking penalty after a save by its goalkeeper.
- However, after the penalty expired, Turley went to work again, scoring his second goal of the game to restore the Crimson lead and begin a back-and-forth final frame. Princeton's answers came in the form of back-to-back goals to retake the lead and make the score 12-11.
- Then it was Harvard's turn to counter. Graham Stevens sprung the run with a big save that led to a goal from Cobery on the possession. Princeton's goalie made another save on Harvard's next possession, but the Crimson retained possession after Wyatt Wiggins delivered a monster hit in the midfield to jar the ball free from the Tiger carrier. The turnover led to the go-ahead goal from Speidell after he received a feed from Malone with under five minutes remaining.
- Princeton tied up the contest again at the four-minute mark, but Teddy Malone delivered an eye-popping backhand bounce shot to give the Crimson a 14-13 lead late with only 2:13 remaining.
- The Tigers made the final push in the battle, tying the game with 1:41 remaining before scoring the go-ahead and eventual game-winning goal with 17 seconds remaining.
- Princeton escaped with a 15-14 win over Harvard in an absolute thriller at Jordan Field.
Up Next
Harvard will compete in its final game of the regular season next weekend when it makes the trip to Ithaca to take on the nationally ranked Cornell Big Red. The Crimson hope to end the regular season on a high note before competing in the Ivy League Tournament which is slated for the first week of May. First faceoff is schedule for 12:00 PM at Schoellkopf Field and all the action will air live on ESPN+.
