Kim Baverstock added extra insurance when she took a feed from Carabino inside the box and beat a helpless Burney with 26:16 left in the contest.
To its credit, Harvard never gave up and played its best soccer over the final 20 minutes. Stauffer was pretty much Harvard's offense for the day, as she was the only player to continually beat Husky defenders. Unfortunately for her, she seldom was able to find an open teammate to pass to.
Freshman Brynne Zuccaro had the best scoring chance of the day, as Stauffer fed her from the end-line, but UConn goalie Siobhan Harold made a diving stop with 17 minutes left.
"They are really talented," Stauffer said. "We've wanted competition all year, and they definitely gave it to us."
The loss pretty much puts Harvard on the bubble for making the 24-team NCAA Tournament. A schedule that really didn't have too many strong opponents outside of UConn might come back to haunt it come selection time.
"The fact that they did not play any teams like us [No. 13 Hartford and No. 16 UMass, the other two top 20 teams in the Northeast Region] is like putting all your eggs in one basket," Tsantiris said. "[Harvard] is a very good team--they are in the top four in the region, and they still have an outside chance."
What Harvard does have a solid chance of doing is winning the Ivy League title, which was goal number one when the season started. All it has to do is defeat arch-enemy Brown Saturday night for the crown.
"I haven't been more excited for a game in a long time," Stauffer said. Scoring Con--Carabino 18 (Martinez, M. Tietjen) 44:26. Con--M. Tietjen 11 (Martinez, Baverstock) 49:46 Con--Baverstock 4 (Carabino, M. Tietjen) 63:44. Saves: Har---Bumey 5-6 11; Con--Harold 1 6 7.