The Harvard men’s hockey team has ended the past two seasons in the same arena, at roughly the same time of the year, and in the same (first) round of the NCAA Tournament. But despite those similarities, the tone on which each season concluded was dramatically different.

In the 2001-2002 season the Crimson barely kept its head above water, and indeed the team would have finished with a sub-.500 record had it not been for its improbable, and impressive, ECAC playoff run.

Following a 2-8-1 skid to conclude the season, Harvard defeated Brown in two games at Bright to open the playoffs. The team moved on to Lake Placid, where it upset Clarkson 3-2 in overtime and then defeated top-seeded Cornell 4-3 in double overtime. Winning the ECAC title secured an NCAA tournament berth for the Crimson, and Harvard battled Maine valiantly before bowing out 4-3 in overtime.

That season was an unqualified success for the Crimson; the team contended for, and won, an ECAC title when few people expected Harvard to even advance to the ECAC final. And that performance upped the bar of expectations for the 2002-2003 season.

Unlike 2001-2002, the Crimson sailed through the regular season, posting a final record of 22-10-2. But the specter of falling short in big games—temporarily banished by clutch wins over Clarkson and Cornell, and the near victory against Maine—returned in full. Amongst the team’s 22 wins, the names of Cornell, BU, Maine and BC were conspicuous in their absence.

Harvard met or exceeded expectations in the regular season, but the team did not end last season on a positive note. Instead, the Crimson lost in 3-2 in overtime of the ECAC final to Cornell, despite leading 2-1 with 33 ticks left in regulation. Compounding that disappointment (it was the Crimson’s third loss to Cornell) was Harvard’s play in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament against BU.

The game was a back-and-forth affair. The Terriers took the lead twice in the first period and each time the Crimson tied the score. In the second, Harvard went ahead, only to find the game knotted again later in the period. Back and forth it continued—until the Crimson allowed three goals in three and a half minutes to start the third.

Despite mounting a frenzied comeback, the outcome was academic from that point on. Again Harvard bowed out of the NCAA tournament in the first round, and with expectations of another ECAC title and advancement in the NCAAs, the losses to Cornell and BU overshadowed the team’s strong regular season record.

This season, expectations are higher than ever. For the first time in years, the Crimson is favored over Cornell in both national and league polls. And the team’s recognition comes with good reason—Harvard has more players with NCAA tournament experience over the last two seasons than any team in the country.

That the Crimson’s tournament experience has been full of disappointments is something that coach Mark Mazzoleni and his players believe will be essential to turning postseason disappointment into success this year.

“There’s a very small margin between wining and—I hate to say—losing,” Mazzoleni said. “The team came back in very good shape, and with a real positive mind set. I’m very confident we have guys who do not have their focus on individual aspirations and stats, but more on the team. We have to take the next step, but we’re poised to take the next step.”

For his part, Cornell coach Mike Schafer, who’s Big Red team has been responsible for more than a little Harvard heartache, sees strong similarities between the Crimson team this year and his own senior-led squad from a year ago that advanced to the Frozen Four.

“They’ve gone through it before, like us, and they’ve been to the NCAA tournament and been disappointed with the result,” Schafer said. “They’ve had a lot of success, like the senior group we had last year. Those guys have already achieved the ECAC championship, but at the same time they have greater ideas of grandeur, much like our team.”

Schafer’s words are echoed all across the Crimson’s roster, which admits disappointment with last year’s early end, yet still manages to exude confidence.

“Last year was a very incomplete season,” said junior all-American defenseman Noah Welch. “We won 20 games, but we had a restless offseason because we know we have something to prove.