Two minutes later, it appeared as though Harvard had extended its lead to 2-0 when junior attacker Heather Hussey put a shot into the net. However, the referee ruled that Hussey had committed a crease violation and the goal was disallowed.

Then, in the 18th minute, things began to unravel for the Crimson. O'Shaughnessy's first goal at 17:11 knotted the game at 1-1 and was followed by a tally from sophomore defender Jen Berarducci twenty seconds later. The two scores gave the Fighting Irish a lead they would not relinquish for the remainder of the game.

Although Crimson freshman Ashley Harmeling pulled Harvard back into a 2-2 tie with in the 22nd minute, Notre Dame responded over the next two minutes with two goals to give the Irish a 4-2 halftime lead.

The story of the second half was the stellar play of Irish sophomore goaltender Jen White. White shut down the Crimson attack with eight second-half saves, allowing only one goal in the second frame.

"Notre Dame's goalie was really strong and she just kept stopping all our shots," said senior attacker Lauren Corkery.

White finished with a career-high 14 saves and anchored a resilient and stingy Irish defense. Notre Dame held only a narrow 23-22 shot advantage over the Crimson, but White's superlative goaltending helped keep Harvard scoreless for over 28 minutes at one point.

Capitalizing on Harvard's offensive drought, Notre Dame cranked up the intensity and pulled away in the final frame. Goals from O'Shaughnessy, Kassen Delano, Kelly McCardell and Alissa Moser distanced the Irish from the Crimson as the game wore down to a close.