Five minutes after halftime, senior forward Alisa Sato threaded a pass through the defense, catching Moran perfectly in stride. With a fake to shake off her two markers, Moran found daylight with the goal straight in front of her.

As Adorno came off her line to challenge her, Moran niftily flicked the ball over the goalie, tucking it under the crossbar to seal the victory.

“It was a fifty-fifty ball that I won,” Moran said. “I took a left-footed shot and it went over the keeper and in. She probably could have saved it if she had been back a little farther.”

At the other end of the field, sophomore goalkeeper Katie Shields preserved the lead with several stellar saves, particularly during the middle of the first half, when Harvard seemed most vulnerable.

With 17 minutes remaining in the first half and the Crimson only leading by one, the Black Bears managed to slip a low cross into the center of the goalmouth. In the confusion, Maine got off a shot low and to Shields’ left.

With a perfectly timed dive, Shields eliminated the threat and temporarily relieved the pressure on goal.

“She’s an amazing goalie,” Colvin said. “I wouldn’t expect any less.”

After such a difficult save, protecting the goal would only get easier for Shields.

The Harvard defense suffocated the Black Bears’ once-potent attack, allowing few good looks at the goal and forcing several long-range, easy to handle shots that never threatened the net or the lead.

And on the one occasion that Shields was beaten, the defenders in front of her slipped behind to protect the shut out.

Off a corner kick, the Black Bears gained possession in front of the goal and quickly took aim at the inside of the right post. Denying what appeared to be a certain goal, sophomore midfielder Maile Tavepholjalern stood fast and headed the ball to safety.

Harvard travels to Hanover, N.H. this Friday to face Auburn in the Dartmouth Invitational at Chase Field.

—Staff writer Timothy J. McGinn can be reached at mcginn@fas.harvard.edu.