With 12 seconds left in the period, the Huskies made the Harvard intermission all the more frustrating.

With Van Reesema in the box for slashing, the Crimson defense failed to clear the puck in a scramble in front of the net, and Huskies right winger Julianne Socha poked it in. Center Brooke Whitney and winger Brooke White were credited with the assists.

“We got ourselves in trouble in the defensive zone,” said Harvard Coach Katie Stone. “We killed the first penalty [to Kat Sweet in the second period] beautifully. It’s a bummer they got that goal on the power play.”

Hagerman agreed.

“Sometimes we don’t really react as well as we should to their pressure,” Hagerman said. “We got caught not moving our feet. When you have a team that generates some good forechecking, it’s hard to counter-attack that once they start getting the momentum on top of you. It’s hard to regain your composure when the puck keeps getting thrown back down your throats.”

Harvard dominated the third period, outshooting Northeastern 10-4. The Crimson went on a two-man advantage for 25 seconds midway through the period when defenseman Pamela Pachal and winger Michelle Lorion were penalized for tripping and cross checking, respectively. Despite relentless pressure, the Crimson failed to put the puck in the net.

With 2:27 left to play, the Huskies took the wind from Harvard’s sails when another defensive breakdown led to a Huskie goal by center Lindsay Ball. Center Lori DiGiacomo and Lorion assisted the goal.

Harvard nevertheless kept the pressure on.

Corriero broke in alone on goal but failed to score.

Harvard went on a two man advantage when Northeastern defenseman Kim Greebe was called for high sticking with 40 seconds remaining in the game and Harvard coach Katie Stone elected to pull Ruddock. The Crimson nearly scored in those final seconds, but when the smoke cleared, Gunn had held firm.

Stone was nonetheless pleased with her team’s performance.

“Some of our kids had their best games today,” Stone said.

Stone mentioned Corriero specifically.

“You can score four goals and play average,” she said, referring to Corriero. “[Nicole] played as hard as she could for 60 minutes.”

Despite great individual efforts, the mistakes in the defensive zone proved more decisive.