Going into the second half with a fragile lead, Wojcik knew what needed to be improved if his team hoped to secure the home victory.

“We had trouble with one vs. one [scenarios], combined with us turning the ball over in the clearing game, [and] giving the ball back [to Holy Cross],” he said.

The Crusaders came out fired up after their five unanswered goals, a streak which continued with an unassisted goal from McKenna through senior goalkeeper Harry Kreiger’s legs. But with the score 9-8, Holy Cross would get no closer.

Harvard converted on third-quarter goals from junior attackman Daniel Eipp, White, Shwartz, Dwyer, and junior midfielder Brian O’Toole, who, along with Newman and Gonos, scored his first career goal on the day.

“We have a big roster of talented players,” Wojcik said. “We wanted to get more guys more game experience.”

Harvard is currently in in the midst of a three-game, eight-day stretch, so keeping first-string players healthy and rested remains a high priority.

Gillespie added two goals for the Crusaders in the third frame, sending his team into the fourth quarter trailing, 15-10.

The final frame was low-scoring for both sides. Holy Cross added two more goals from Haarmann, both unassisted, while Eipp added one last goal for Harvard to make the final score 16-12.

“We had a strong defensive game [on Saturday], and today I thought offensively we were strong, but we weren’t who we are defensively,” Wojcik said. “We have yet to play a complete game.”