“I think we came a long way from the beginning of the season,” Peterson said. “It was the best teamwork we’ve had all season.”

Hartwick 9, Harvard 5 (OT)

Against Northern champion Hartwick (23-10) yesterday, the Crimson turned in its four most consistent and well-played quarters of the season, but when pushed into a fifth, fell just short of victory.

To force the overtime, Harvard relied on a strong effort at the back, playing first-rate defense against a squad with more weapons than the Crimson is equipped to handle.

“We played really great team defense,” Peterson said. “We covered all the counterattacks and our defense against that was fantastic, and that was weaker earlier in the season.”

Playing tenacious defense down low, Harvard dominated the inside positions and forced the Hawks to attack from outside.

The Crimson pressured the ball consistently from all sides, forcing ill-advised passes and shots rushed to prevent the shot clock from expiring.

“We constantly helped out and double-teamed,” Peterson said. “We made them use the entire shot clock.”

Harvard neither led nor trailed by more than one the entire way and, with 1:15 remaining, was on the verge of defeat.

But, in a six-on-five situation, Codini tucked the ball below the keeper’s arm and leveled the score at five.

Codini thrived throughout the tournament, despite the pain from a serious finger injury suffered during a game against Bucknell.

“I actually hurt it [again] in practice last Friday, and it had been hurting for this last week,” Codini said “But in the games the adrenaline rush makes it hurt much less.”

Hartwick immediately took to the offensive, looking to keep the game from extending into overtime.

Attacking the goal, the Hawks managed to sneak a shooter behind the Crimson defense.

But co-captain Michele Falkner raced back and, swimming around the shooter, swatted the ball, which fell harmlessly away from the goal mouth.