“We have some bad defensive breakdowns,” Mazzoleni said. “And it was a very inappropriate time in our season for that to happen.”

Harvard made a run in the third, getting a goal and a string of inspired shifts from Moore—once again, the best player on the ice for either team—but even that wasn’t enough to undo its defensive transgressions.

Déjà vu?

And so the Crimson’s season ended at the Worcester Centrum for the second consecutive year, only this time Harvard couldn’t leave the building saying it was still the ECAC champion.

There had to be somewhat of an empty feeling in the players’ stomachs. Last year’s win over Cornell in the ECAC title game was so epic, so perfect, that it stayed with them during the off-season much more than the overtime loss to Maine in the NCAAs.

But this season, there was no emotional win to rival last season’s drama at Lake Placid—only emotional losses. The Crimson didn’t beat a single NCAA-tournament team. Not one. It went 0-7-1 against them, including 0-3 against both BU and Cornell.

Sure, there were some great games among the eight. The Beanpot semifinal against BU was an instant classic and has helped to build the gladiator-like image of Terrier goaltender Sean Fields, after his now-famous “toe save” on sophomore defenseman Noah Welch.

And for the second straight season, the ECAC championship game was a gem. It had great offense, great defense, great goaltending and great individual efforts (Moore’s pocket-pick of Cornell defenseman Mark McRae and his goal seconds later come to mind). It also had a hero—Big Red forward Sam Paolini, the former walk-on who scored the overtime game-winner.

Legends like Fields and Paolini were built this season. Unfortunately for the Crimson, too many of them were wearing the wrong colors.

Apart from the big-game losses, though, Harvard had a very successful season marked by consistency—something it sorely lacked last year. This squad was the most successful men’s hockey team at this school in a long time, and it has every reason to be proud of the way it played.

The members of the outgoing senior class—the first to play under Mazzoleni for four years—can see a huge difference in where the program is now—having made two straight NCAA appearances and won an ECAC title—versus where it was during their 11-17-2 freshman season.

And that’s just it. The program has raised its level so much during the past four years that it had everyone thinking something special was on the way.

This year really looked like ‘The Year.’

Looking ahead

So was that it? Has ‘The Year’—or as close as we’ll see to ‘The Year’—already come and gone?