Niagara's disorganized attack eventually made the Purple Eaters pay when Botterill broke the scoreless tie at 19:22

Botterill picked up an errant Niagara pass on the left side of mid-ice and skated towards the net, immediately beating one defender as she moved to the middle of the ice. Seeing Botterill on the break, Francisco skated up the right side to complete the two-on-one, and got the puck as she crossed the blue line.

Hesitating for a second, Francisco drew Niagara's only remaining defender, then gave the puck back to Botterill. With Pinelli hugging the right post, Botterill had all plenty of room on the left side of the net.

Harvard carried the offensive onslaught into the second period, registering six shots in the first minute and a half. Even a penalty on freshman forward Tracy Catlin for cross checking could not stop form rushing the Purple Eagles' net.

At 3:56, Francisco was again at the center of the offense. Although the Crimson was a man down at the time, Francisco picked off another errant pass at the top of Harvard's defensive zone and skated away from Niagara's power play. Although Pinelli charged out from the net trying to cut off the angle, Francisco went to her right and got her second point of the day.

Niagara struck back five minutes later, when freshman forward Candice Calee went top-shelf on Crimson goalie Crystal Springer at 8:58.

Calee got a good look only after a quick Niagara rush pushed the Crimson defense deep into the zone. When the puck popped back out to Calee, she saw Springer was partially screened by a scrum in front and shot for the only part of the net she could see.