“I thought both teams had an equal number of scoring chances,” Mazzoleni said. “They were more aggressive and assertive on the puck. It’s a game that if you don’t have the puck, you can’t score a hell of a lot.”

Mazzoleni noticed problems with the offense even before Friday’s sputtering loss.

“We’re having a difficult time finishing,” Mazzoleni said. “We’re not scoring a lot of goals five-on-five. If you look at our team right now, Dominic Moore, [Tyler] Kolarik, [Tim] Pettit, and [Dennis] Packard don’t have a single five-on-five goal for us.

“We’re having a difficult time finishing. We had our chances. We’re not finding the net.”

While the team’s current offensive difficulties are troubling, Mazzoleni has to be pleased with at least two things displayed on Friday night.

First, a lack of Crimson penalties, which has been Harvard’s achilles heel thus far this season. Harvard entered the game averaging a .750 penalty kill ratio, and Mazzoleni cited penalties as an area where the team needed to improve.

Another area of encouragement was the play of Crothers, who looked impressive in net against a strong B.C. team in his first game back.

Still, the Crimson will need to figure out a way to reach the back of the net by next weekend when it faces ECAC rivals St. Lawrence on Friday night and Clarkson on Saturday.