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

Video replays were inconclusive, but Crimson players confirmed afterward that the puck went in. So did one Brown player.

“I thought it was in,” Kolarik said.

Nevertheless, the score remained 2-2.

“It was just one of those things,” Cavanagh said. “They call it a no-goal and you just have to move on.”

Six minutes later, Cavanagh ensured his team would move on to Upstate New York.

Victory, however, was very uncertain midway through the second period. The Bears led 2-0 on —get ready for this—Shane Mudryk’s first two goals of the season. But less than 30 seconds after Mudryk’s second goal—before the rink announcer finished reading the assist—the Crimson halved the lead. Johnson threw a 30-footer on net that Pettit flipped into the air and (barely) over the line.

“That really changed the momentum,” Mazzoleni said.

Harvard controlled most of the play for the remainder of the night, outshooting the Bears 31-19 over the final two periods and overtime. Brown (15-11-5) had a one-goal lead entering the third, but—again, just as it happened two years ago—the Crimson knotted it early in the third.

You could’ve guessed the goal-scorer (Kolarik) since it is March and, well, he hadn’t scored a goal in the game yet. So there he was in the slot, hammering away at a gorgeous feed from Noah Welch for his 21st career ECAC tournament point in 16 games and second goal in as many nights.

Kolarik’s goal came on the power play. For the series, the Crimson was 3-8 with the extra man. Brown was 1-11. “Special teams won the series,” Kolarik said.

Harvard (16-14-3) has won five straight for the first time since March 1994, when it last advanced to the Frozen Four, and has lost only one of its last nine overall. The series win also gave Mazzoleni his 300th career coaching victory. “That just means I’m getting old,” Mazzoleni said with a laugh. “But this will be a good memory, to win like that.”

HARVARD 4, BROWN 2

Since the ECAC began three-game series in the 1980s, roughly 90 percent of teams winning Game 1 advance. So Friday’s game was very important. Harvard won it, 4-2, by scoring more goals against Danis in the second and third periods (two apiece) than it had over two regular season games (one).

“Even the greatest goalies have holes,” Kolarik said. “The kid’s human, just like Patrick Roy is human.”