In a game that was much closer and tenser than the final score would indicate, the Crimson spent much of the contest protecting an early goal by senior forward Ashley Mattison.

The strike came in the 11th minute, when freshman midfielder Katie Westfall--playing in her first game since being diagnosed with the chicken pox early last week--unleashed a high shot from 35 yards out. Hartford goalkeeper Anne Lise Nilssen tipped the ball upwards and off the crossbar. As the ball bounced out in front of the goal, Mattison lunged forward, sacrificing her body and heading the ball into the net.

"If I had gone with my foot she would have gotten a piece of it, so I just dove at it and I got there just before she did," Mattison said. "We collided, but it was in the net."

Mattison, who tallied both of Harvard's goals in its first-round win over Quinnipiac on Wednesday, was playing in her first game without a cast on her left hand. She had broken the hand in the Crimson's regular-season finale against Columbia.

"What a brave goal by Ashley Mattison," Wheaton said. "It had to be headed and she did it."

Even after taking the lead, the Crimson remained on the offensive for a short time in the first half, but had all of its attempts thwarted.

Sophomore midfielder Orly Ripmaster and Stewart both saw headers go wide of the net, and Yenne and Westfall had quality shots stopped by Nilssen, who made three saves to keep the Crimson lead at one.