It seems to be a foregone conclusion that in both dating and college hockey, a lack of situational experience can ruin an entire evening of hard work.

The No. 3 Harvard women’s hockey team learned the lesson first hand Wednesday night at Bright Hockey Center, settling for a 2-2 tie against No. 10 Providence. The Crimson surrendered a game-tying goal with 1:24 remaining in regulation after the Friars pulled their goalie to create a six-on-five advantage.

“Six-on-five is really hard to play against,” said sophomore defenseman Caitlin Cahow, who had a goal and an assist. “We haven’t done too many reps of that in practice yet, so I’m sure that’s something we’ll work on.”

Providence (4-2-3) was in midseason form against a Crimson team (2-0-1) playing in just its third game of the year.

“I think we have a little bit more game conditioning than they do,” Friars coach Bob Deraney said, “and we took advantage. That’s really what the six-on-five was all about.”

Sophomore goalie Emily Vitt shined in her first start of the year, recording 28 saves, in place of junior Ali Boe, who got the night off after the starting the first two games of the season.

“The second goal was kind of a fluke,” Vitt explained. “It sort of squeezed through my arm and hit the far post and popped in.”

Vitt worked herself into competition for the starting role by improving her skating skills during the offseason.

“She’s closed the gap through the summer and worked real hard,” Harvard coach Katey Stone said. “We’ve got to figure out who the number one goalie is, or else we’ve got two number ones. [Vitt] played great tonight.”

The Crimson played without junior tri-captain Julie Chu and freshman phenom Sarah Vaillancourt, who are at the Four Nations Cup this week. Additionally, the Crimson are still without sophomore forward Katie Johnston, who is playing with the soccer team at the NCAA tournament.

Cahow gave Harvard its first lead of the game with a power play goal at 15:34 of the second period, making the score 2-1. Junior defenseman Jennifer Skinner dished the puck across the blueline to Cahow, who fired a slapshot into the net before Friars goalie Amy Thomas could get in position to make the save.

“It’s sweet to hear it hit the back of the net and come back out,” Cahow said. “I got that opportunity because everyone was clearing out in front of the net and making good quick passes. I have my teammates to thank right there.”

There was no scoring for the next 23 minutes, and the Crimson seemed to be on its way to victory, before the late Providence goal.

In overtime, Cahow was penalized for checking, then returned to the ice and nearly netted a game-winner in the final minute.

She took a pass at the blueline from tri-captain Nicole Corriero, then had a strong charge to the goal and fired. Thomas made the initial save, then snatched the puck out of midair with her glove as she lay on her side, while players swarmed the crease.

After a scoreless first period, the Friars took a 1-0 lead at 5:31 of the second period on a power play goal by senior center Rush Zimmerman.

Harvard answered a few minutes later, with tri-captain Kat Sweet converting on a power play. The goal was set up by Cahow, who received a pass from Corriero before feeding Sweet in the slot.

Sweet’s goal technically came on a five-on-three Crimson advantage, though it was more like four-on-three since a Harvard penalty had just ended as the goal was scored.

Overall, the game featured 17 penalties, with five consecutive infractions called on Providence in under ten minutes in the second frame. The Crimson converted on two of those opportunities for their lone scores of the night.

Sophomore defenseman Lindsay Weaver saw her first action of the season after missing the first two games with an injury.

Though the official attendance was only 125, the game had a postseason feel, with two of the nation’s top ten teams pitted against each other.

“It was a pretty exciting game,” Deraney said. “It felt like the playoffs, and that’s pretty good for the regular season.”

Harvard faces Ivy League competition this weekend, facing off against Yale and Princeton on the road.