Harvard hung around with Hartwick through one period, trailing just 2-1 at the end of the first. The Hawks added two more in the second to grab a 4-1 halftime lead. The Crimson managed to get one back in the third, but Hartwick’s attack could not be stopped as the Hawks tallied three in the quarter to take a 7-2 lead into the fourth.

Harvard tried to rally back from the five-goal deficit scoring three straight goals to open the quarter.

“It seemed like every shot [in the fourth quarter] was on,” Mehaffey said.

But Hartwick managed to regroup scoring a quick goal to counter the Crimson run. The Hawks added two more in the waning moments for the 10-5 final.

“They called a timeout and executed a few plays out of it very well to beat us by the [final] margin,” Russell said. “I’m disappointed that we lost, but I have no complaints about our intensity or execution.”

HARVARD 8, IONA 5

It was the only opponent at Easterns that the Crimson hadn’t seen this season, yet by the end of the first quarter Harvard seemed right at home.

The Crimson and the Gaels (13-11) traded goals in the first, as the teams were tied at two at the end of one. But Harvard tallied four in the second quarter, while only allowing Iona to net one, as the Crimson took a commanding 6-3 lead into the break.

“Iona has one player (senior Shannon McGady) who’s the focus of its offense,” Russell said. “We started to run a zone-type defense to force the Iona defense outside. We basically said, ‘We’re going to take away your best player, what are you going to do,’ and that was the way we played defense in the second quarter [onward].”

The defensive intensity remained just as strong as Harvard took the pool after the half. The Crimson held Iona to just one goal in each of the final two quarters and added two of its own to coast to an 8-5 win.

The Harvard victory was the only win by a lower seed in the opening round of the tournament.

—Staff writer Michael R. James can be reached at mrjames@fas.harvard.edu.