Hofstra won the first faceoff and managed to hold the ball for the first four minutes of the game before putting the first goal on the board.

Harvard quickly responded with two goals. Widbin scored his first of two goals of the game, hitting the back of the net from the left side of the goal. He was soon followed by freshman attackman Brooks Scholl, who caught a pass from sophomore midfielder Evan Calvert and was able to score at the end of the period to put the Crimson in front.

The Pride soon gained the momentum back and went on a three-goal streak, scoring the only two goals registered during the second period, with the second one coming right at the buzzer. Hofstra then went on to open up the third period with a goal only 1:44 into the period to bring the score to 4-2.

But Harvard answered back with two goals of its own to once again tie up the score at 4-4. Scholl scored his second goal of the game off a feed from sophomore midfielder Brian Mahler. Junior midfielder Tom Boylan added an unassisted goal to once again bring the Crimson close.

“When the game is tied and you are missing shots, it doesn’t seem as devastating,” Samuelson said. “I don’t know why we didn’t convert. We gave ourselves every opportunity.”

Harvard then lost its momentum, as a Crimson penalty gave the Pride its first man-up opportunity of the game and their first of three goals during those man-up advantages.

The Crimson did a good job at creating opportunities to score during the game, but simply wasn’t able to convert its chances into goals.

Freshman goalie Evan O’Donnell was back in action on Saturday after being taken out with an injury in the Crimson’s last game against Massachusetts, registering 11 saves for the game.

“He didn’t show any signs of being rusty from not playing,” Samuelson said. “He is still in a decent amount of pain and his mobility is limited clearing the ball, but he is doing his job just as well as before. He played a tough game.”

—Staff writer Abigail M. Baird can be reached at ambaird@fas.harvard.edu.