Even if the Gophers escape for a breakaway opportunity, the hometown squad will have to get by junior goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer, who made a season-high 43 saves in a Frozen Four semifinal versus the Eagles. On the season, Maschmeyer has stopped shots at a rate of .945, good enough for tied for third in the nation.

Minnesota junior netminder Amanda Leveille is one of the two players with a higher save percentage, checking in at .946. Against the Badgers, the junior proved capable of the big stage once again, and on the year, she allows 1.18 scores per contest. 

Like the Gophers, Harvard will rely on a range of players to crash through this defensive wall. Junior forward Miye D’Oench, sophomore forward Sydney Daniels, and junior forward Mary Parker have scored 19, 19, and 17 goals, respectively, on the season for the Crimson.

While these statistics matter, perhaps the most significant number of the matchup is this one: 3,400. That’s how many people can cram into Ridder Arena, regular-season home of Minnesota and postseason site of the Frozen Four. On Sunday night, the rink will surely have the feel of a home game for the Gophers.

There is, of course, the added knowledge that hometown crowds go quiet when hometown teams lose. On Sunday afternoon, Harvard will try to silence a stadium of Minnesotans by grabbing a national championship that once seemed a stretch of the imagination.

“We’ve played in some pretty hostile environments throughout the season,” Stone said. “We get acclimated very quickly to the building we’re in…. We’ll embrace it and try to make some noise of our own.”

—Staff writer Sam Danello can be reached at sdanello@thecrimson.com.