With four minutes elapsed in the first period, the Eagles mounted a sustained attack on the Harvard net. Senior goalie Oliver Jonas kept the assault under control with a couple of solid saves, but B.C would not be denied forever.

After the Crimson failed to clear the puck, Eagles defenseman Bill Cass found left-winger Brian Gionta, the nation's leading goal scorer. Gionta approached the net from the left side and skated to the left circle. At that moment, Gionta snapped the puck up and over Jonas's left shoulder, a pinpoint shot that grazed the crossbar and found its way into the net to give the Eagles the 1-0 lead.

After the goal, B.C. continued the pressure on Jonas, forcing him to make saves on breakaways and two-on-ones to keep the Eagles off the scoreboard.

Cass was called for two penalties in less than five minutes, giving Harvard power play opportunities, but the Crimson could not solve B.C.'s penalty kill. The Eagles controlled the tempo with Harvard on the man advantage, taking more shots than the Crimson did.

With four minutes left in the period, the Crimson picked up a penalty when sophomore forward Aaron Kim was called for hooking.

B.C. quickly took advantage of its first opportunity with the man advantage and pressured the Harvard defense into its own zone. The Eagles produced multiple shots but could not break through the play of Jonas, who made save after save to temporarily keep B.C. off the scoreboard.

The Eagles managed to move the puck out to the blue line where it was retrieved by senior defenseman Rob Scuderi, who fired the puck into the traffic in front of Jonas, where it was tipped by freshman left-winger Chuck Kobasew. The deflected puck ricocheted to the left, but Jonas was moving to the right. The puck found the wide open net and gave B.C. a 2-0 lead.