BUCKNELL 7, HARVARD 6

In a tightly contested battle that came down to the final seconds, the Crimson could not come up with enough offense late to close the gap against Bucknell and settled for a 7-6 loss.

The Bison (9-11, 2-2) went on the attack first, scoring the game’s opening goal 2:15 into the match. Junior attacker Kalina Grabb answered for Harvard, only to have Bucknell score back-to-back goals at the end of the first quarter.

Before the first frame could finish, however, Martinelli fired a shot past Bison goalie Rena Heim to bring the Crimson within one with eight minutes to go in the half.

In the second quarter of play, both defenses turned their play up a notch, with neither team scoring a goal in the period.

“Our coach always says this is a game of inches, and we have been losing a lot of really close games,” Del Toro said. “So I think we really have to work on having the intensity to win those close games and push through. We’ve worked so hard this whole season; it’s just a matter of applying it to games.”

In contrast to the stalemate that was the second quarter, both offenses came out roaring after halftime. Balding scored the game-tying goal for Harvard, and a strong offensive push from the Crimson allowed sophomore Andersen to come up with a goal that gave the team its first lead of the day.

But the lead would not stand long, as the Bison answered Andersen’s goal with three straight scores of its own, which would ultimately be enough for the victory.

“I think a lot of it is communication and not being frantic,” Dukes said. “We have to play a lot more relaxed in order to have success, especially going forward into the postseason.”

—Staff writer Ariel Smolik-Valles can be reached at asmolikvalles@college.harvard.edu.