“It got to a point where it was all about our effort and our execution and try to stay together and try to keep going as a team under some pretty adverse circumstances,” Crimson coach Katey Stone said.

Stone’s team played hard in the final period, outshooting the Big Red, 13-5, and controlling the puck for most of the frame. Harvard got one goal closer with seven minutes to play, as junior Leanna Coskren took a pass from co-captain Cori Bassett at the top of the zone and put a high shot into the back of the net.

But Cornell’s swarming defense and tough goaltender shut out the Crimson for the rest of the period, and the 6-2 lead was just too large to overcome.

“We are disappointed with the end result of tonight’s game, but certainly not disappointed with the effort of our players,” Stone said. “We got ourselves in a little bit of a hole and tried to dig ourselves out. It was one of the hardest fought, from start to finish, games that we’ve played all season.”

Though Harvard did not earn its sixth Frozen Four berth, the ECAC will still be represented in the national semifinals by the Big Red—a squad making its first-ever tournament appearance. Cornell will face No. 1 Mercyhurst on Friday in Minneapolis.

“Anytime an Ivy League team can go to the Frozen Four, it’s a great thing,” Stone said. “The ECAC is very strong, the Ivy League is very strong. Anytime you can keep putting great teams in the NCAA tournament, you’re doing the right thing.”