Down three goals with about six minutes to play, Mazzoleni employed the unorthodox strategy of pulling Jonas to gain a six-on-four advantage when the Big Red took a penalty.
Unfortunately for the Crimson, the tactic worked against Harvard when defenseman Ben Wallace unleashed a wrist shot from center ice to put Cornell up 5-1 at 17:05 in the third period.
Bala lifted a wrist shot on a pass from Dom Moore to shorten the Big Red's lead to three with 1:46 to play, but the effort was not enough.
"Cornell is a very good team with the lead," Mazzoleni said. "Even when they got to three, we responded well and continued to fight and attack their net. In my two years here, it was the most offense we generated against them."
The victory allowed Cornell to advance to the title round, where two-time champion St. Lawrence downed the Big Red, 3-1, to end its season.