Despite outshooting the Rams, 28-5, URI's Courtney Wood managed to tie the game 2-2 at 30:11 of the second half. McDavitt answered at 22:14 with an unassisted tally, her second of the evening.

Five minutes later, sophomore forward Philomena Gambale gave Harvard its first two-goal lead on a spectacular goal that was set up by co-captain Maisa Badaway. Badaway blazed down the left side and found Gambale down the middle between two URI defenders. Gambale then knocked the ball past goalkeeper Danielle Dangoia.

It was Gambale's second goal of the season.

"Badaway set up that goal with her speed," Starles said. "We made a quick transition and that allowed us to score."

While Harvard outplayed Rhode Island for most of the contest, a couple mental breakdowns prevented it from taking more than a one-goal lead before Gambale's strike. Though it mustered multiple shots on several occasions, there weren't Crimson players in place to challenge for rebounds to generate higher percentage scoring opportunities. Harvard also lapsed a little on defense, allowing Wood to knot the game.

"We had a couple of breakdowns on defense," Starles said. "For about a 5-to-10 minute stretch early in the second half, we stopped communicating with each other."

Harvard's focus returned after an unusual timeout. During the course of play, the referee became injured causing a stoppage in action. The Crimson took advantage of that time to regain its communication lines and soon after, the rout was on.

McDavitt finished her hat trick at 6:19 of the second half, while junior back Katie Truck finished the scoring at 2:58 with an unassisted tally.