With under a minute remaining in the first, Golden Knight Nick Tremblay took a shot from the right point that was initially saved by Girard. But the puck bounced in front of the net, allowing freshman Kevin Tansey to net his first goal of the season.

Frustrations built late, as freshman defenseman Patrick McNally was called for interference, and concurrent roughing penalties were assessed to both junior Danny Biega and Clarkson forward Ben Sexton after tempers flared after the first period came to a close.

The visitors took advantage of a 5-3 man-advantage opportunity early in the second, as Sexton faked a shot from the left circle and passed down to Louke Oakley at the goal line, who was able to sneak in a shot from a tough angle past the right side of Girard to put Clarkson up 2-0.

But Harvard was able to turn around the momentum on its third man advantage of the night.

After the puck had bounced around the boards right of the net, junior Marshall Everson was able to poke it up to senior Alex Killorn, who then passed it up to Fallstrom who fired a shot from the right circle that cut the deficit for Harvard in half.

The Crimson was especially dominant on the face-off, almost doubling its opponents win total at a 40-22 margin.

“We struggled in the beginning of the year,” captain Ryan Grimshaw said. “We’ve been working on it a lot more in practice. It’s such a big part of the game just having that possession off the faceoff.”

While important for the Crimson in the standings, the victory also came on senior night, adding further significance.

“I think that to really give the credit where the credit is due, it’s the leadership of team and the captains and the senior group,” Donato said. “I’m very proud of the way they’ve handled all the adversity we’ve had.”

—Staff writer David Mazza can be reached at damazza@college.harvard.edu.