The disputed goal was hardly Ruggiero’s only complaint about Shepherd that day. She received four minors and a 10-minute misconduct during regulation.

“I was very disappointed in the officiating tonight,” Ruggiero told the Duluth News Tribune. “Officials have to realize we play hard out there, and it’s frustrating when a big girl like me gets a penalty because opposing players almost always bounce off of me and onto the ice and I’m the one who is sent the box.”

In addition to enjoying home-ice advantage, Duluth was also more familiar with Shepherd. He had officiated the Bulldogs’ final four regular-season home games and the WCHA championship game. The Crimson had only seen him in its NCAA semifinal, a game in which neither team instigated much physical play.

Had the disputed goal counted, the scoring would have been Ruggiero from Botterill and freshman Julie Chu—the result of an all-Olympian odd-man rush. The play was the last time the three skated down the ice together as Harvard teammates.

The rush started after Duluth won a faceoff in the Crimson zone and Chu disrupted a shot from the point. The puck bounced to Botterill, who worked a give-and-go with Chu while Ruggiero joined the rush for a three-on-two. Upon entering the zone, Botterill split two defenders and fired a hard, high shot from the slot. Ruggiero drove the rebound home.

But instead of being mobbed by joyous teammates after burying the puck in the net, Ruggiero received nothing but Holst’s retaliatory shove.