However, the story of the second period was the violence. With a total of 11 penalties dealt to both teams, the hockey game began to rival a boxing match.

"We played hard but there were a lot of penalties in the second period, and we lost the flow of the game," Mazzoleni said. "They're a better team than us on the four-on-four, and they're very explosive."

But before the game took on a physical bent, the Crimson created a number of beautiful opportunities that it couldn't quite put its stick on.

Bala took the puck off the face-off 55 seconds in to the second. Working the puck to Clemmensen's right, he took a wrist shot that glanced the crossbar, just barely missing the back of the net.

The Eagles refused to let the Crimson control the offensive flow of the game, and let Harvard know by scoring the second of their three points.

Dolinar's second goal provided some insurance for B.C.'s lead, creating a ditch that the Crimson just couldn't dig itself out of.

"The second goal didn't break our backs," Mazzoleni said. "But it made it harder to climb back from it. I don't think they had a decided advantage."

The final chapter of the game was similar to the second, but with a little less physical play, although the teams racked up another nine penalties in the third period alone.