Harvard was penalized for having too many players on the ice at the 3:34 mark of the opening period, and the Golden Knights got on the board 32 seconds later. Maschmeyer denied a shot by Jamie Lee Rattay, but Mercer again gathered the rebound and beat the rookie glove side. The Crimson had not allowed a goal that early in a contest all season, and it marked the first time all year that Harvard had trailed in ECAC play.

“They just rattled us, and we didn’t show up ready to play,” Fry said. “They took us off our game, and props to them for being able to that.... We were just out of place and we felt a little stunned from the get-go.”

Harvard answered back nine minutes later following an interference penalty on Clarkson’s Vanessa Plante, which gave the Crimson its first power play opportunity. Harvard took full advantage, as Armstrong, from the far post, took a pass from senior forward Kaitlin Spurling and was able to put a one-timer to the lower left corner, just before Howe could extend her right leg.

But Howe denied back-to-back good looks by Picard later in the frame, and Harvard was unable to score for the rest of the period, or the rest of the night.

“After [Armstrong’s goal] you kind of expect the momentum to shift and you expect the other team to sit back and be a little nervous,” Fry said. “They did a really good job of coming back at us and not backing down.”

—Staff writer Scott A. Sherman can be reached at ssherman13@college.harvard.edu.