Against Clarkson on Friday night, Harvard began its road trip in style, recording a determined defensive effort and holding off the feisty Golden Knights in front of their fans in Cheel Arena.

The Crimson fell behind early on a goal by Jay Latulippe, but tied the game late in the first period on a beautiful slap shot by Welch.

The goal started off of a face-off in the Clarkson zone. Senior forward Dennis Packard took the draw, stepping in for Bernakevitch who had been tossed from the face off for attempting to anticpate the drop. Packard won the puck back cleanly to Welch, who fired a rope that beat Traylen over his right shoulder.

“That was a pretty big moment in the game,” Grumet-Morris said. “It’s very difficult because not only is the shot a good shot but the other players are in a position to tip, rebound, screen. So it’s just eight pairs of legs in front of your eyes and its very, very difficult to get the puck and also to watch it pinball off eight legs.”

Then Harvard added the game-winning goal, a power play conversion after Bernakevitch crashed the net following a Pettit shot. That goal, coming just over three minutes into the third, gave the Crimson the confidence it needed to hold off a furious rally by the Golden Knights.

The rally culminated in a Clarkson power play with just over two-and-a-half minutes remaining, but through a combination of excellent defense and solid goaltending the Golden Knights didn’t have a chance to tie the score..

—Staff writer Timothy M. McDonald can be reached at tmcdonal@fas.harvard.edu.