“The goal showed everyone we could burn their defense,” Fry said. “After that period, we talk about that a lot as a forward group, and we knew we could do that without a problem.”

And Harvard’s forwards came out firing, as junior Kaitlin Spurling charged down the ice from the faceoff, barreling towards goal and getting a shot on target before knocking the goal of its bearings.

It was that intensity that typified the Crimson’s third period, as less than a minute later the game was tied.

Fry once again provided the spark, as she worked down the left wing and slipped a pass to the onrushing Jillian Dempsey, who beat Laden with a one-timer.

Harvard now looked like the team that beat Yale 8-0 last weekend, and Quinnipiac’s offense could not muster a response.

Eight minutes later, with the Crimson on the power play, Pucci atoned for her earlier slip when she linked up with Fry for a 1-2 move that opened up the Bobcat defense, allowing her to put away her fourth goal of the season.

And 90 seconds later, the game was iced, as Reber found Dempsey in front of goal, and the junior slid the puck through Laden’s legs to give the Crimson the 4-2 edge.

“We’re fighting for home-ice advantage going into the playoffs,” Fry said. “We know what were playing for, and we knew we had to get it done.”

—Staff writer Peter G. Cornick can be reached at pcornick@college.harvard.edu.