The way Boe described the play, you might get the impression that her glove miraculously opened and moved at lightning speed of its own volition, and catching the puck was sheer coincidence or accident, not something she had control over.

Don't be fooled.

As St. Lawrence coach Paul Flanagan explained when asked about the big save "that goalie" made on the power play, Boe's stop on Russell knocked the wind right out of the St. Lawrence.

"That was a huge turning point in the game," Flanagan said. "That [play] was our break. You play a game like that where you're not getting a ton of chances—here's our break.

"It's very deflating from an offensive perspective when you can't bury one or even generate a lot of good chances. So that was the turning point for sure."

Nor was it the only opportunity on which the Saints couldn't convert.

"A couple of times the puck hopped over a stick," Flanagan said. "And when [Boe] did make the big save you almost feel, 'Oh, that's the one we needed to get us back in there,' and could have really energized us at the time."

With five minutes left in the game, St. Lawrence had another chance at even strength. Senior Ricki-Lee Doyle broke free down the left side of the ice, firing a shot from the faceoff circle at Boe.

The puck came across Boe's left, but she got her stick on it and knocked it up in the air. For a moment, the puck was airborne and looked like it might escape Boe's reach and go right up into the netting behind her.

But Boe quickly stretched back and brought her glove up from behind her, clamping down on the puck and closing yet another window of opportunity for the Saints.

And with her play, she helped give Harvard the opportunity to play for the NCAA championship game against Minnesota.

—Staff writer John R. Hein can be reached at hein@fas.harvard.edu.