The Crimson came out strong in the first frame of play against the No. 16 Aztecs, going ahead, 5-3, in the beginning eight minutes of play after goals from freshman Michelle Martinelli and sophomore Charlotte Hendrix.

The scoring fleet was quieted in the following three quarters, with Harvard tallying only three goals for the rest of the game while the Atzecs (10-6) mustered nine more nets.

Price and Andersen each had two goals for the Crimson, followed by Balding, Martinelli, and classmate Jillian Dukes, who all contributed a goal in the effort.

Price also led Harvard in assists with three, followed by junior Victoria Frager, who had two.

MICHIGAN 16, HARVARD 10

Matching up against the No. 20 Wolverines (10-10) proved to be too much for the Crimson to handle in its opening game of the weekend.

The Michigan offense had a strong day in the pool, with three players registering hat tricks against Harvard goalie Ariel Dukes.

The Crimson was able to hold its own in the first quarter, with a combined nine goals scored in the first eight minutes of play. The Wolverines came away with the lead at the end of the opening quarter, 5-4, and did not look back from there.

Michigan came out in the second quarter on an offensive roll, scoring four goals before the half. Harvard answered with two but could not close the gap.

“It’s a 1-3 weekend, so from the outside looking in you’re thinking ‘Wow, that wasn’t a great weekend,’ but we lost to three top-20 teams, and we lost in close games,” Minnis said. “We learned a lot in those games. We were in the games and didn’t have huge mistakes that cost us.”

—Staff writer Ariel Smolik-Valles can be reached at asmolikvalles@college.harvard.edu.