Senior goaltender Elena Miller registered a strong performance in her final collegiate contest, especially in the first quarter, when she made six saves and only allowed one goal.

“Seeing as it was the seniors’ last game and our final game of the season, it was an absolutely great way to go out,” sophomore two-meter Molly Mehaffey said.

HARVARD 5, GEORGE WASHINGTON 4

It was the rubber match of a season series that could not have been any closer, as the previous two meetings had been decided by a total of just two points.

But this time, it appeared George Washington (18-13) would buck the trend as it grabbed an early 3-0 lead.

“The biggest problem for us was our intensity in the first quarter,” Russell said. “After playing so well against Iona and Hartwick, we weren’t as focused as we would have liked to have been. But when they scored that goal to go up 3-0, that was the wakeup call.”

Harvard got one back before halftime as sophomore two-meter Arin Keyser threaded a pass to Mehaffey who finished it to close the gap to 3-1. The Crimson added two more goals in the third quarter as the two squads entered the final period tied at three.

The Crimson kept the pressure on in the fourth, adding two more goals early in the period to cap off its five goal run and extend its lead to 5-3.

“When we get down, sometimes we have a tendency of shooting anything just to try to score,” Mehaffey said. “But this time we got good shots, and every [attempt] was right on [net].”

George Washington nearly broke up that run in the third period, as it earned a four-meter penalty shot. But sophomore goaltender Lydia Gardner made the difficult save to keep the momentum on Harvard’s side.

The Colonels finally ended a two-quarter-long scoring drought to close the gap to 5-4 late in the fourth. But the Crimson defense clamped down, holding off George Washington by the same margin for its second win of the tournament.

Mehaffey and junior two-meter Teresa Codini each had a pair of goals, while junior Cristina Codini added one.

HARTWICK 10, HARVARD 5

The last time the Crimson faced the Hawks, Hartwick (32-8) ran off five goals in the first quarter while holding Harvard scoreless, effectively ending the game before either side had a chance to get its feet wet. The 16-8 final masked the fact that six of Harvard’s eight goals had come in the fourth, when the contest was no longer in doubt.

While the end result was much the same on Saturday, the Crimson earned back a bit of the respect it had lost at Moyer Pool just one month ago.