The Class of 2000 began its men's hockey career by losing at Cornell in the ECAC Quarterfinals. This past March, the senior class patrolled the ice for the last time in the fabled Crimson at the horror house in Ithaca.

Some would judge this a fitting close to a disappointing chapter in Harvard hockey history, but in reality the 1999-2000 Crimson--led by the senior class--laid the foundation for the dawn of a bright future.

In its first year under Coach Mark Mazzoleni, Harvard (11-17-2, 9-10-2 ECAC) finished tied with Princeton for sixth place in the ECAC, but the Tigers earned the higher seed with the tiebreaker. The Crimson played some of its best hockey of the past couple of years down the stretch before getting edged by Cornell in the first round, losing both games, 4-3, in a best-of-three series.

Despite finishing behind both Cornell and Princeton in the ECAC standings, Harvard won the Ivy League Championship.

"The season was a success in that we transitioned well to a new staff and system," captain Trevor Allman said. "We would have liked to have gone farther, but an Ivy title is still quite a rewarding accomplishment."

The Mazzoleni era began with a bang.

Harvard roared into first place at the start of the season, winning four of its first five games, including a whopping weekend home sweep over Dartmouth and soon-to-be-disgraced Vermont, 7-2 and 6-3, respectively.

But the real highlight of its opening run came on Nov. 13 when senior goaltender J.R. Prestifilippo made 33 saves and senior winger Brett Chodorow scored on the power play at 12:08 of the second period to give Harvard a 2-1 win over Cornell at a momentarily humbled Lynah Rink.

The Crimson also caught a glimpse of its future in the first goal of that game when freshman winger Brett Nowak scored his third goal of the season on assists from the brothers Moore--captain-elect Steve, the Crimson's leading scorer, and freshman sensation Dominic, who led the team with 12 goals.

But the good times came to a crashing halt as Harvard would win just one more game in 1999, a 5-1 victory over Union on Dec. 4. A loss to Brown on Nov. 27 marked the Bears' first victory of the year.

The Crimson then rang in the new millennium with a 3-2 win over Yale at Bright, but Harvard would not win another ECAC game until Feb. 25 at Princeton. It did not win another game at all until the consolation game of the Beanpot Tournament, a 3-1 win over Northeastern.

Harvard lost to eventual-champion Boston University, 4-0, in the first round.

That Beanpot win was the first for Prestifilippo and only the second for the seniors. In 1998, Harvard stunned Boston College in the opening round before losing a 2-1 overtime heartbreaker to Chris Drury's Terriers in the finals. Backup Oliver Jonas started against the Eagles, however, as Prestifilippo was still recovering from mononucleosis.

Prestifilippo had a magnificent final season to conclude a brilliant Harvard career. "Presto" had a sterling 2.86 goals-against average and backboned Harvard's big turnaround at the end of the year.

"It was a pure pleasure to have the opportunity to coach Prestifilippo," Mazzoleni said.

The Crimson's freefall from early-season heights put it in danger of missing the playoffs.

But on Feb. 25, Harvard strolled into Hobey Baker Rink and stunned Princeton, 4-1. The next night, it dispatched the Elis, 5-2, at the Whale.

Over that weekend, Harvard finally seemed to take Mazzoleni's lessons to heart. It played two smart games with tight defense and aggressive puck pursuit.

The game-winner against Princeton was scored by the dynamic duo of the second half of the year--senior winger Scott Turco and Steve Moore. The pair developed a chemistry as Turco had a breakout season, finishing the year with nine goals and 11 assists.

The parity-infested ECAC nearly landed Harvard a home ice slot for the playoffs, but the Crimson lost to Rensselaer on the last day of the regular season, 2-0. Hobey Baker finalist Joel Laing stopped all 29 Crimson shots, including 11 in the final period.

The loss set up two dramatic postseason contests in Lynah Rink. In the second game, junior winger Chris Bala gave the Crimson a 3-2 lead in the third period, but Cornell scored a pair of goals 25 seconds apart to seal Harvard's fate.

"We had our backs against the wall at Princeton and Yale and played real well against our main rivals," Steve Moore said. "I thought we also played well against Cornell, but somehow we lost."

Though this year seems to have ended like so many of the past couple of years, Mazzoleni has injected some fresh air into the program. The team had a new work ethic and discipline with Allman setting the example both on and off the ice.

All the seniors contributed to the implementation of Mazzoleni's new system. The coach gave wingers Matt Macleod and Jamin Kerner a fresh chance at playing time. Defensemen Matt Scorsune, with his blistering one-timer from the point, and Mark Moore headlined an inexperienced corps.

Leadership responsibilities for next year now fall upon Steve Moore. Moore has led the Crimson in scoring in each of his three seasons.

"I'm not an overly vocal leader," Moore said. "I lead mostly by example, but I will take more initiative when I have to."

For the first time in the program's history, the Crimson will have assistant captains. Appointed by Mazzoleni, Bala and sophomore defenseman Pete Capouch will wear the "A" on their jerseys.

Among the younger guys, Dominic Moore dazzled his way to Ivy League Rookie of the Year honors.

Next year, the Crimson will be buoyed by the return of defenseman Graham Morrell, who redshirted this year, and a recruiting class that early reports have touted to be among the top in the East.

"We came in this year and started to play and compete hard and become a more disciplined team," Mazzoleni said. "The next level for us is to start to believe that those little habits will turn into wins."

All the future success of the Mazzoleni era will come off the foundation laid by the 1999-2000 Crimson. Next year promises at least a return to Lake Placid. And, the team hopes, a couple more wins at Cornell.