Nicolia and Romeo would each put away one more goal before halftime, while Weis and the rest of the Harvard defense held firm at the other end to send the Crimson into the break ahead by nine points.

Determined to put the game to bed, Harvard burst out of the gates in the second stanza, as freshman midfielder Ali Thaler scored in the first minute of the period, and fellow freshman and midfielder Caroline Garrity picked up her first score of the season two minutes later.

Romeo notched her third goal of the contest and her 16th of the year with 25:31 on the clock to round out Harvard’s scoring for the evening.

Holy Cross would claw back with two more finishes before the final whistle, but it would not be enough to keep Harvard from collecting the win.

Although it came against a non-conference opponent, the victory could help Harvard establish some confidence as it heads back into Ivy League play against No. 10 Princeton.

“This game will help us for Princeton because we got to see a different type of defense and offensive formation,” Romeo said. “That will help us to learn how to adjust to whatever is thrown at us.”

—Staff writer Sam O. M. Christenfeld can be reached at schristenfeld@college.harvard.edu.