Harvard jumped out to the early lead 4:47 into the game. Ruggiero stepped in front of a UNH centering pass and took off down the ice. She walked through the Wildcat defense and wristed a shot right at Roberts. The UNH netminder failed to cover up, and Francisco hustled into the crease to knock in the rebound before crashing into the net.

But the Wildcats settled down and established their offense midway through the opening period. Carrabba skated down for an uncontested breakaway with 4:35 left in the first, but Springer came through with an impressive glove save.

Springer continued to anchor the Crimson defense for the next three minutes, and a dive by Asano kept a loose puck out of the Harvard crease at 18:30 of the first.

But UNH won the ensuing faceoff and sophomore defenseman Brandi Kerns sent in a slapshot. Thornton guided the puck high past Springer to even the score at 1-1.

Harvard 8, Dartmouth 1

After twenty minutes of fairly even hockey, the Crimson jumped all over the Big Green with a five-goal second period to secure a spot in the championship game.

"We showed we could play with them and create opportunities for ourselves at the beginning of the game," Dartmouth Coach Judy Parish said. "Harvard has a threatening first line and we had to figure out a way to stop them. They came out with confidence and momentum, and in the second period, they just broke it wide open."

Mleczko gave the Crimson the lead for good 3:40 into the game with a deceptive goal against Big Green sophomore goaltender Meaghan Cahill.