Harvard squared off against MIT (3-3) on Friday in a packed Blodgett Pool, filled with the din of pot-clanging MIT students. While the Crimson only surrendered one goal in the first period, the defense began to slip in the second, allowing four scores. Meanwhile, Harvard could not find its rhythm offensively, stifled by the Engineers’ defense.

It took more than four minutes for the Crimson to take its first shot, and Harvard entered halftime down 5-0. The second half seemed to be a completely different game.

Fueled by Minnis’ halftime speech, which, according to senior driver Jeff Lee, “really fired us up,” the Crimson scored three times in total in the third period, making the score 6-3. Lee scored two of the goals.

In the final period, Harvard quickly scored twice, and junior co-captain Luka Babic nailed a long-distance equalizer with 4:54 left in regulation. Nevertheless, the Crimson failed to hang on to the tie, and the Engineers’ goal later in the period proved to be the deciding one.

The game could have been much more lopsided had it not been for the play of junior goalkeeper Alexandre Popp. His 15 saves mark his highest total this season and tied a career best.

“Teddy’s been telling me all season: ‘You gotta make the saves you need to make, and the one or two extra saves to change the momentum,’” Popp said. “And that’s what I was telling myself all during warm-up: it’s going to be a close game. I gotta do my job and a little extra.”

Popp’s mental preparation paid dividends.

“Alex had a couple really key saves,” Lee said.

Lee also played an integral part in the team’s comeback, as his hat trick accounted for half of the team’s goals.

“Jeff is Jeff,” Minnis said. “He comes out there and he plays hard and he goes and gets those goals when we need some goals.”

Nevertheless, Minnis focused not on the accomplishments of the individual but of the team.

“We win as a group, and we lose as a group, and I think tonight was a total team effort by everyone,” he said.