Harvard capitalized on the opportunity. With 20 seconds to play, sophomore defenseman Danny Biega found Fallstrom from the point. For the second time of the night, Fallstrom beat the Big Green goaltender, halving Dartmouth’s lead.

“If [Fallstrom] didn’t score that goal on the power play at the end, we wouldn’t have had a chance,” co-captain defenseman Chris Huxley said.

But that’s as close as the Crimson came, losing 4-3. Unable to score again in the remaining time, the buzzer signaled the end of Harvard’s season.

DARTMOUTH 2, HARVARD 1

While Sunday’s contest became an offensive showcase, on Saturday, it was all about the defense.

The Big Green took the lead midway through the first period after Dartmouth forward Adam Estoclet fired a shot from the left circle that found the back of the net. The Big Green retained the lead for the next 38 minutes.

The Crimson tied it up 11:12 into the third period. Huxley’s shot from the point hit the crossbar, and the puck deflected right to senior forward Michael Biega, who hit the equalizer past the Dartmouth netminder.

Regulation failed to settle the game. But just 1:37 into the sudden-death overtime, Big Green forward Andrew Owsiak gave the home team the victory after his shot from the right side of the ice hit a skate, which redirected the puck past Carroll and into the net.

“There was no huge mistake on the overtime goal,” Del Mauro said. “That’s the way you get a lot of goals in overtime...we transitioned very quickly to just proceed to [think], ‘Let’s win the next game.”

“[The goal] was tough because I believe we were the better team throughout the whole game,” Fallstrom added. “It was really unfortunate.”

HARVARD 3, DARTMOUTH 2

Coming into the series, Harvard had been in the midst of a season-long five-game winning streak.

That momentum paid dividends early.

The Crimson drew first blood. Capitalizing on an early Dartmouth power play, junior forward Alex Killorn scored just 5:39 into the contest.

“[Killorn’s goal] was a huge goal because one of the keys to our games was having a great start and really initiating the series with an intensity that caught them off guard,” Del Mauro said.