The concoction was a dot-to-dot set-up, starting with Harvard’s staple of offensive dependency Ruggiero, who fired the puck to the right post where Julie Chu stood waiting.

Chu knocked the puck at Love—save number 45—when the puck made its way across the crease to the left side of the net, where No. 9 Nicole Corriero stood hunched, ready to take her ninth shot of the game on Harvard’s ninth power play advantage.

“They always say it’s not when you’re missing the chances that you should worry; it’s when you’re not getting the chances, getting the shots,” Corriero said.

Corriero backhanded the puck airborne as Love shifted to her right—but for once, too late.

Save number 46 was the one that got away.

Though a mere murmur in what had been Love’s muting of the second-best offense in the nation—the Crimson averages 4.43 goals per game—Corriero’s goal with seven seconds remaining sent the Bright Hockey Center fans into a raucous roar.

As Harvard celebrated amid the cheers, the Yale netminder stood in disbelief.

Seven seconds later and one more loss added to her record, Love—who had withstood trial after trial all game long, who had single-handedly kept her team tied with the No. 3 team in the nation for nearly three periods—stood with her stick by her side, her left arm resting atop the goal for support, utterly dejected.

Her teammates surrounded her, each taking turns patting her shoulder or helmet on a job well done.

In the ceremonial on-ice hand-shaking after the game, each Crimson skater acknowledged Love’s effort—an effort that, however valiant, fell seven seconds short.

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