The Crimson missed another opportunity to score with 7:42 remaining, when senior Anna McDonald missed wide and high after a break-away.

“I liked how our kids never backed down tonight,” Stone said. “They just stepped up and played very well.”

In the opening seconds of the third period, with a Harvard power play winding down, the Crimson finally broke through. Dempsey skated down the left baseline and pushed a cross to Ryabkina, who put the puck in the lower left corner of the net.

Harvard had opportunities to build on its lead after Ryabkina’s goal, but rookie Margaret Chute couldn’t capitalize on a fast break, and junior Deborah Conway missed an open shot after the Minnesota defender in front of her fell down.

With under a minute and a half left, the Gophers had their best chance to tie things up, but a fast-break shot by West lacked power and was saved by Kessler. Minnesota had the puck in Harvard territory in the final minute, but Kessler saved Megan Bozek’s wrist shot, and that was it for the Gophers.

It was the team’s fourth-consecutive win, and the Crimson’s first win over Minnesota since the 2003 NCAA semifinals. Harvard had not beaten a team from the WCHA—the conference that has turned out every NCAA women’s hockey champion—since a 4-0 win over Minnesota-Duluth three years ago.

“I think we’ve really come together,” Kessler said. “We struggled a little at the start defensively...[but] we’ve really settled down in our defensive zone and played very well.”

For Kessler, the shutout was especially impressive, considering the fact that Minnesota hadn’t been blanked since February 2007.

“It’s pretty high up there,” the goalie said of this game’s rank in her storied career. “One of the things we talked about as a team yesterday is that we don’t want to have an underdog mentality. We are as good as Minnesota, and this just proves we are a great team.”