"They started putting more pressure on us," junior goaltender Dan Mejias said. "We fell back into defensive mode a little bit."

As the game heated up, it became more physical. Senior captain Ryan Kelly received one of the game's five yellow cards in the 70th minute.

Soon after, in the 71st minute, Fairfield's David Mancini sent what looked like an errant shot into the box. However, teammate Ryan Moisek managed to meet the ball with the back of his head and sent it just out of the reach of Mejias.

"Their guy took a shot that looked like it was going way out wide for a throw-in, but one of them managed to get a head on it," Mejias said.

The unfortunate goal changed the flow of the game for the Crimson.

"It gave them some momentum, and we lost a little confidence," Nechtem said. "It was just such a lucky goal [that] we felt like asking, 'What else could happen to us now?'"

Once Fairfield tied the game, Harvard never quite regained its stride. Only ten minutes after tying the game, Fairfield took the lead when sophomore Adam Braz sent a pass ahead to junior Rob BeFaveri who streaked past the Crimson defense and put a low shot past Mejias.