But Harvard lost the early momentum with numerous penalty infractions in the second and third frames. The Crimson accumulated 23 minutes in the box, while the Golden Knights accrued just one two-minute infraction.

“We spent over a third of the game killing penalties,” D’Oench said. “It’s hard to get momentum back when you’re doing that. I thought five-on-five we absolutely dominated the game, but sometimes you’re going to get calls that don’t go your way, and you have to figure out a way to win anyways.”

Harvard was outshot by Clarkson, 14-5, in the second frame, as the Crimson played a man down for almost half of the twenty-minute period. Junior goalie Emerance Maschmeyer came up with 25 saves on the night, but could not fend off Golden Knights’ late charge.

Junior forward Olivia Howe found the back of the net with less than thirty seconds in the second frame to bring Clarkson within one heading into the final period. A tripping penalty on Harvard junior Mary Parker gave the Golden Knights a man advantage. Clarkson capitalized on the penalty as junior Renata Fast slid on past Maschmeyer to tie the game at two-all just two minutes into the third period.

The Crimson outshot Clarkson, 3-1, in extra time, but neither side could put one away in the five minutes of overtime play.

“Although we didn’t come out with the wins we wanted, it was a good start to the year,” Reber said. “The things we need to fix are easy for us. It’s a good starting point.”

—Staff writer Brenna R. Nelsen can be reached at brenna.nelsen@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @CrimsonBRN.