Taking a feed at the blueline from junior forward Chris Corrinet, Parsons eluded a haphazard Harvard backcheck and then split the Crimson defense with a sudden burst of speed.

Walking in untouched on senior goaltender J.R. Prestifilippo, Parsons wristed a quick snapshot past the goalie's outstretched blocker putting the Tigers up for good.

"It was a tough loss for us," Mazzoleni said. "We knew it was a significant game and we played hard. It was a scrappy game that came down to a couple bounces here and there. There were just a pair of bad breaks against us."

With time waning on the clock, Harvard mounted a furious attack around the Princeton net, but was unable to find the equalizer, thanks in part to a dubious call by referee Fred Campatelli.

After calling only a single penalty all period despite several late hits and unscheduled free-for-alls around the net after the whistle, it appeared as though Campatelli was willing to let both teams settle their differences on the ice.

But with only 2:21 remaining in the third, Campatelli found a new pair of spectacles and whistled Crimson senior forward Brett Chodorow for goaltender interference after Chodorow appeared to accidentally nip the Princeton goaltender's stick while skating around the net.

Despite being down a man, junior winger Chris Bala nearly pulled a miracle out his hat with a shorthanded breakaway.

But after Bala was stoned by sophomore goaltender Dave Stathos, the Crimson's hopes were dashed for good after junior winger Steve Moore failed to connect on a juicy rebound that was floating precariously in the air in front of Stathos.