“The shorthanded goal really broke our back,” Murphy said. “We really felt we were in it until that point.”

McAuliffe is no stranger to scoring crucial goals. Last season, she netted the overtime game-winner against heavily favored Northeastern in the Beanpot semifinals.

After McAuliffe’s goals, Harvard turned a decisive victory into complete destruction, outshooting Brown 20-7 in the third period. For the game, the Crimson was 3-for-6 on the power play, making the most of its opportunities.

“We buried our chances,” Harvard coach Katey Stone said. “We played real good D. We handled their flyer pretty well. We were moving off the puck tremendously well.”

Crimson junior goalie Jessica Ruddock had a strong game, coming up with a big save late in the first period. With Harvard leading 3-1, Ruddock robbed Guay on a breakaway. The Crimson netminder went down into the splits to make a beautiful stop off her blocker.

—Staff writer David A. Weinfeld can be reached at weinfeld@fas.harvard.edu.