“[Our line] definitely had a great game,” Maki said. “It took us a few games to get the ball rolling. Last weekend we struggled offensively, but played well defensively. We just needed a little fire to get that going. We were working on it all game, and kinda broke it open.”

Less than nine minutes later, Maki, fed by Mandes, teed up defenseman Dylan Reese just outside the left faceoff circle, who banged home his third tally of the season at 16:44, increasing Harvard’s lead to three.

But Mayotte would hold fast the rest of the way, providing the Dutchmen with a glimmer of hope. Buzzing around Dov Grumet-Morris’ crease, Union finally punched through 2:57 into the third, when forward Sam Bowles scooped up linemate Scott Brady’s initial offering and flipped it home.

Squeezing off 15 shots in the period, the Dutchmen came close to pulling within one on several occasions, but Grumet-Morris, who notched 32 saves, and his defense were ultimately up to the task. Once the Crimson killed Dave MacDonald’s penalty, incurred with 7:59 to play, Union’s chances dwindled and the best scoring chances belonged to Harvard.

Cavanagh added an empty-netter with 70 seconds to play to establish the final margin of victory.

“We hit two posts,” Dutchmen coach Nate Leaman said. “They didn’t hit posts. They buried their chances, and we hit two posts.”

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