The first penalty corner was the closest Harvard came to scoring. First-half Northeastern goalie Emily Roy was unable to contain a Liz Sarles shot and left a rebound nearly within reach of junior back Katie Turck. The Huskies beat her to it and forced another corner.

In the following minutes, Harvard tried every corner play in the book: passing the ball to sophomore back Katie Scott, passing the ball to senior forward Kate Nagle, having Sarles shoot directly--but nothing worked.

By the tenth corner, the Huskies had Harvard all figured out. After Sarles passed off to McDavitt, a Northeastern defender remembered what she had seen on penalty corner number five and moved right in front of Scott in anticipation

"We had a lot of chances," Harvard Coach Sue Caples said. "On some days you're going to get those little bounces. We didn't. But a win is a win--it doesn't matter how many you win by."

After a lethargic first 15 minutes, Harvard took complete control.

Solid passing and ball control enabled the Crimson to run the game at its desired pace, while the Harvard defense kept Northeastern from controlling the ball for any significant length of time.

Boxed into their own end, the Huskies' most successful offensive tactic was to clear the ball the length of the field.