Two and a half minutes into the middle frame, sophomore Yale forward Cody Learned entered the Harvard zone from the right wing and unleashed a quick slap shot from the point that seemed to catch Girard off guard. The puck clipped the senior goaltender’s pads before trickling past the Crimson goal line.

Young struck from the opposite point on Yale’s next shot 5:15 into the period, beating Girard top-shelf through a screen. 26 seconds later, Learned, who earned game MVP honors, punched in his second goal of the night after Girard could not locate a rebound in front of his pads off a long shot from sophomore Yale defender Ryan Obuchowski.

With Michalek in net, Harvard saw only a few chances to get back in the game. Yale limited the Crimson to only four shots on goal in the third period. Agostino added the Bulldogs’ fifth goal with less than nine minutes left in the game off a pass from behind the net by Young.

The next Rivalry On Ice game is slated for January 2015 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. By then, Donato hopes that his young squad will be a year wiser and more prepared to reclaim a rivalry that has proved somewhat lopsided in recent years.

“If there is a play or a situation that doesn’t go our way, our response needs to be better,” Donato said. “Hopefully we’ll learn from this. I really believe in this team. It’s a good group of character guys, and I think we’ll bounce back from this.”

—Staff writer Michael D. Ledecky can be reached at mdledecky@gmail.com.