Harvard set the tone for the game early, with three goals in the first three minutes of play. After Greg Cohen put the Crimson on the board, Boylan tallied a goal before freshman midfielder Brian Mahler converted a pass from McBride on a backdoor cut to push the Harvard advantage to three.

“The best thing was that we came out and opened up,” McBride said. “We scored a couple of goals early and set the pace of the game. It got our confidence up, [because] it’s something we’ve had trouble with this season.”

Following a Holy Cross goal, Mahler and Kane each tallied in the last two minutes of the quarter to give the Crimson a 5-1 lead at the first intermission.

Holy Cross battled back, scoring the first goal of the second quarter, but Kane, McBride and Johnson each scored in a span of just over two minutes to set the stage for Harvard’s huge run.

In addition to McBride’s big day, the Crimson was paced by Kane, who had three goals and an assist, Gottschall and his three assists and Mahler’s two goals and one assist.

Harvard will close out its regular season on Saturday when it takes on Dartmouth at 7 p.m. on Jordan Field. Last season, the teams’ meeting turned into a melee, as the field was rushed by Dartmouth students, some of whom attacked and brawled with Crimson players.

“It’s going to be a very intense game, especially after last year,” said McBride, who had a hat trick in last year’s contest, a 5-4 win for the Big Green. “It’s going to be a battle.”

—Staff writer Jonathan P. Hay can be reached at hay@fas.harvard.edu.