While it was the upperclassmen who starred in Sunday’s game, the freshmen started the fire against the CCSU. Their spark was especially important in the rainy conditions on Friday night.

After 68-plus minutes of scoreless play, Harvard was able to break through on the skills of their newcomers. Freshman midfielder Maria DiMartinis fed a short pass to fellow rookie Agnew, who rocketed a 25-yard shot into the back of the net for the tie-breaking goal. The score held up, as Hess shut out the home team the rest of the way.

“[Agnew’s] been working hard, she’s been dangerous, [and] she’s been creating some good chances,” Hamblin said. “It was going to happen, and it was a wonderful finish.”

Hess made three stops in goal in the 90 minutes of play, and the sophomore goalie is now 2-0 on the season.

“We’ve got a really strong backline of experienced players,” Hess said. “They made me look good. They made my job very easy, and it’s really exciting to be able to play with them.”

Though both Etzel and Hess played supporting roles last year behind graduated goalie Lizzie Durack, both returning players have made the most of their time in goal this year.

“They’re both under the spotlight, and we’re really confident in both of them,” Hamblin said. “We’ve had three shutouts in four games—credit to not only them but also our defending, front to back.”

DiMartini’s assist and Agnew’s goal were both career firsts. Mohammadi, meanwhile, peppered in four shots on goal for the game.

“It’s exciting because the strength of our team doesn’t come just from our juniors and our seniors,” Hess said. “We’ve got some strong players in the freshman class, as well. At the end of the day…we all contributed.”

—Staff writer Bryan Hu can be reached at bryan.hu@thecrimson.com.