"I was screened a little bit, but I could see around my defender and did see her line up the puck," Springer said. "But because I had to look through the crowd I couldn't really follow the puck as well."

Ingram's goal a minute and a half later marked the beginning of another Crimson onslaught. The constant pressure on the Niagara net led to a series of icing calls, as the Purple Eagles could only counteract the Crimson offense by sending the puck out of their zone and down the ice.

Harvard seemed to have the game under control, but after a quick Niagara goal at 16:54 from freshman forward Valerie Hall, the Crimson had to tighten up in the back.

When the third period began, the Purple Eagles appeared to be intent on becoming the second-straight team to come back on the Crimson in the last week, as the Harvard defense looked paralyzed in the face of a renewed Niagara offense.

"I think they probably came out pretty fired up because the game was so close," Springer said. "We saw them as we came out of the tunnel, and they were talking about how close it was and how it [the game] was still theirs, so I think it was just that they were pumped up."

After a couple of nice kick saves from Springer, however, Niagara had tired itself out, and the Crimson took control of the play.

Botterill and Francisco combined again at 12:27 to extend the lead to two goals.

As both players worked behind the net, Botterill found Francisco on the left side. Francisco found the left post open, skated around to the front of net and slid the puck past Pinelli on the right side.