PROVIDENCE, R.I.—No one expected this to be easy. And it certainly wasn’t.

Then again, you just knew. At least those on the Harvard side did.

So when native son Tom Cavanagh, of nearby Warwick, capped last night’s 3-2, series-clinching win over Brown 7:35 into overtime, the celebration was more expected than spontaneous. The mood was one of relief rather than jubilation.

Because the destination that seemed to be a formality in October—Albany, N.Y., and the ECAC semifinals—had been realized. And all it took was four brilliant postseason victories to wipe out four months of agonizing uncertainty.

“I think everyone sensed we were going to win that game,” senior assistant captain Tyler Kolarik said after the narrow Game 2 victory. “I bet myself that Tommy was going to score, and I was right.”

Was he ever. Cavanagh, who had already etched his name in the Crimson’s postseason lore with his overtime winner against Clarkson in the 2002 ECAC semis, strung together a pair of brilliant games in his home state this weekend.

He had two assists in Harvard’s Game 1 victory on Friday night—both visionary passes—then slipped the rebound of Dylan Reese’s point shot past the fabled Yann Danis to vanquish the formidable Bears, who had swept the season series with Harvard.

But the interesting thing about Cavanagh’s goal—and Kolarik’s correct prediction—is that neither should’ve come to pass.

Senior winger Tim Pettit—who had scored the Crimson’s first goal in this, his school-record setting 132nd career game—beat Danis under the crossbar 1:40 into overtime. Understandably, his teammates began to celebrate while the Brown players sulked. Danis put his head down.

Only the goal light didn’t go on. And referee Scott Hansen didn’t signal. So everyone kept playing until Hansen blew the whistle to confer with his linesmen.

During the sidebar, Harvard coach Mark Mazzoleni held his arms out as if appealing to some greater force. Assistant coach Gene Reilly did the same. But Hansen stuck with the original call. No goal. Heartbreak for the Crimson.

Video replays were inconclusive, but Harvard players confirmed afterward that the puck had, in fact, gone in. So did at least one Brown player.

“I thought it was in,” Kolarik said.

On the ice, though, the score remained 2-2, with the Crimson’s season very much in doubt. Just not in the players’ minds. “It was just one of those things,” Cavanagh said. “They call it a no-goal and you just have to move on.”

And move on they did, for six more minutes, until Cavanagh ensured their next move would be New York’s capital.