“Early in the third we didn’t get the breaks we needed to start a comeback, and things just kind of snowballed for the rest of that period,” Everson said.

Harvard then squandered an offensive opportunity of its own. Terrier freshman Garrett Noonan was called for an extended penalty for game misconduct after elbowing a Harvard player in the head, but the Crimson was called for a too-many-men-on-the-ice infraction three minutes into the ensuing power play, causing it to lose its advantage.

BU extended its lead to 5-1 8:04 into the period, when Terrier sophomore Justin Courtnall initiated a give-and-go with teammate Patrick MacGregor and snuck the puck past Richter on a wraparound from the left side.

“I think there were more breakdowns than usual defensively,” Huxley said. “Usually we do a pretty solid job back there, but I felt like we made more mistakes than we usually do.”

Two minutes later, Harvard defenseman Ryan Grimshaw cut the lead to 5-2 when he took successive passes from Michael Biega and sophomore Alex Killorn and backhanded the puck past Millan.

But that would be the closest the Crimson would get. Richter finished with 32 saves in the losing effort, while Millan had 31 saves for BU. Junior Rence Coassin and Michael Biega led Harvard with five shots apiece, while Connolly finished with a team-leading eight for the Terriers.

“I didn’t feel like we played our best game,” Everson said. “To play a team of that caliber and go down 2-0 in the first, it’s tough to make a comeback.”

—Staff writer Scott A. Sherman can be reached at ssherman13@college.harvard.edu.