The Knights were able to score two goals before the second quarter, however. Klochkov fired a shot that was too hard for Burmeister to handle, and the ball sailed off his hands and into the goal. Later, when Burmeister took a few strides out of the goal to smother the ball, Klochkov lobbed it over his head and into the open net.

Harvard tied the score before the half, and either team had a shot at winning the heated contest. Schulte, Gerrity and freshman Alasandro Lazzarine all tallied goals for the Crimson before the break, while Klochkov and Tomasevic scored for the Knights.

Throughout the weekend, Garcia proved to be an invaluable player and helped the Crimson raise its level of play by scoring goals at necessary times.

Harvard has two weeks to rest until it hosts the Northern Championships, which start Oct. 31.

“The big thing is winning our first-round game,” Offsay said. “We are optimistic and confident.”

Four teams will move on to the Eastern Championships later in the season, and Harvard must win its opening game to be one of them.

“Our biggest thing to work on is continuing our high intensity,” Burmeister said. “This weekend we played on a much higher level than we had all season. It would help if we had the same fans that came out on Friday night.”