The Crimson finally broke through with just under four minutes left in the first half. Mathers made the initial save off of a penalty corner, but Harvard kept the ball close to the goal, where Sarles emerged from the mob in front.

"[Junior midfielder] Maisa [Badawy] redirected it, and I sent it back in," Sarles said. "I thought one of the forwards would get it. But it went in [the net]."

Sarles' goal put the Crimson up 1-0 at the break. In the second half, Harvard shut down the Quinnipiac offense for the first thirty minutes. The Braves did not get within 20 yards of Crusius. However, the Crimson was unable to extend its lead.

"We had lots of opportunities we could have capitalized on," Nagle said.

For much of the latter part of the second half, neither team had a decent scoring chance. Then in the final minutes, after Harvard's 11th and final penalty corner of the day, Quinnipiac went on the attack. The Harvard defense, untested for most of the day, struggled to hold on.

"It was difficult to get organized," Crusius said. "It's hard as a team defensively to keep your head in the game when you've been out of it until the last six minutes."

The solid play of sophomore back Sarah Luskin did much to stop the Quinnipiac attack, but the Braves pressed forward. The Crimson managed to block one shot after another. In the last minute, Quinnipiac had two penalty corners, including one with no time on the clock.