“It was a lack of execution,” Mazzoleni said. “We were there, we didn’t make the play. He made the play, give him credit. It was a classic Bâby play.”

Down 4-2, Harvard got a goal back quickly when sophomore Tom Cavanagh tapped home the rebound off a huge slapshot by Pettit at 2:19 of the third. But although the Crimson dominated play in the final period, it could not sneak another puck past LeNeveu, who made several key stops to preserve the Big Red win.

“They changed things in the third period,” Cornell coach Mike Schafer said. “They came out with the philosophy of throwing the puck to the net and trying to crash the net. But LeNeveu was very solid down low and didn’t give anything up.”

Moore took an optimistic perspective on the outcome, focusing on the Crimson’s ability to come from behind against one of the nation’s best teams.

“To tell you the truth I feel fine about this game,” Moore said. “We learned our lesson about coming out and having poise, and we won the game 3-1 from the second period on.”

The Big Red’s win gives Cornell the regular season sweep over Harvard for the first time in five years. But with a possible ECAC title game looming, neither team thinks the season series is over.

“We’re definitely going to see them again,” said Cornell forward Sam Paolini. “Both teams know it.”

—Staff writer Elijah M. Alper can be reached at alper@fas.harvard.edu.