"Sometimes you have to be puck-lucky," Mazzoleni said. "Face it, there is luck in sports. They seem to throw it on goal and it bounces in, where we hit three posts and we're hammering the puck from the middle of the slot, and get nothing."

Lady Luck first showed her affection for the Golden Knights just 4:49 into the first period. Assistant captain Carl Drakensjo wristed a rebound end-over-end that struck Prestifilippo, but then flopped over his shoulder and into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.

Allman converted a nice pass from Nowak at 5:07 to tie the game, 1-1, but sophomore defenseman Carl Manzano's power play goal at 13:07 gave Clarkson a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission.

The Golden Knights quickly expanded their lead to 3-1 on another fluky goal at 2:42 of the second period. Standing almost on the goal line to the right of Prestifilippo, defenseman Chris Bahen sent a shot on net that angled awkwardly off the netminder.

Bala sliced the lead in half exactly two minutes later, finishing a three-on-two rush. Trailing the play behind Allman, the captain drew off a defender and dropped a pass for Bala, who one-timed it top shelf.

Clarkson winger David Evans made the score 4-2 with another power play goal at 9:07, but with twenty seconds to go in the period, it was the Crimson's turn to strike with the man advantage.

Although Harvard had excellent puck possession in its earlier man-ups, this sequence was marked by incredibly sloppy play riddled with several non-calls by referee Mike Noeth. Through all the din, junior winger Harry Schwefel skated the puck over the blueline and beat Mattson on a slapshot.