After coming in with high expectations last year, the Class of 2016 looks to live up to those expectations this season as it takes control of a young Harvard squad.

You could say that the sophomores of the Harvard men’s ice hockey team have something to prove this season.

After coming into their rookie year as the top-ranked recruiting class in the ECAC, the Class of 2016 experienced some growing pains as the Crimson faded down the stretch in 2012-13 to finish last in the league for the first time in school history.

While then-freshmen Jimmy Vesey and Kyle Criscuolo played crucial roles in the team’s stunning upset of top-ranked Quinnipiac in March—with Criscuolo scoring the tying goal to send the game to overtime and Vesey assisting on senior Alex Fallstrom ‘13’s game-winner with 18.6 seconds left in the overtime period—it wasn’t enough to salvage a season marked by more lows than highs.

“It wasn’t a great experience on a lot of levels,” Harvard coach Ted Donato ‘91 said. “I do think the silver lining is that a lot of [the freshmen] got to play really important minutes and had some big roles, and that’ll hopefully reap some benefits this year.”

Despite the disappointments from the 2012-2013 campaign, the current sophomore class—led by forwards Brian Hart, Vesey, and Criscuolo—showed signs of a brighter future for the program.

Vesey in particular rose to the occasion on offense, scoring 11 goals and notching eight assists on his way to earning Ivy League Rookie of the Year honors and a spot on the ECAC All-Rookie team. The forward also shined on the world stage, joining the US Junior National Team over the winter break to win a U20 World Championship title in Ufa, Russia.

“Jimmy Vesey, for the better part of the first half of last season, was our best offensive player,” Donato said. “With injuries, going to the Worlds Juniors and all that travel, he kind of wore down a little bit, but we expect him to be a very important part of our team.”

Criscuolo and Hart also played critical roles for the Harvard offense, as Criscuolo tallied six goals and seven assists and Hart added five goals and 13 assists. After a disappointing rookie campaign in which the Crimson ended its season in the first round of the ECAC tournament, the sophomores are hopeful that this season will go differently.

“I think all the guys are excited for a fresh start after last year,” Criscuolo said. “We kind of had a crappy feeling after last season, and we didn’t really have a great vibe in the middle of the year, either. I’m excited with the squad that we have; I think we’re really tight.”

The talented group faces high expectations this season now that they have a year of experience in collegiate hockey under their belts. Donato will look to his sophomore class, which also found key contributors in forward Greg Gozzo and defender Desmond Bergin last season, to make an even larger impact on the ice.

“Usually we see that the biggest development and the biggest improvement over a four-year window is between the freshman and sophomore year,” Donato said. “We’re excited to see how these guys will do when the lights get turned on, so to speak, but it should be a very competitive lineup.”

The current group of upperclassmen will be outnumbered this year by the freshmen, who make up another top-ranked recruiting class highlighted by NHL draft picks Alexander Kerfoot and Sean Malone. A look at the 2013-2014 Harvard men’s hockey roster shows that it is dominated by underclassmen as nine freshmen join eight sophomores to create a noticeably younger roster.

“All the young guys have a lot of energy, and it’s going to make the old guys work harder having young guys pushing them the whole time,” Criscuolo said. “It might take a little time to adjust to the ECAC style for our freshmen, but I think over time it will be a positive for us.”

After a year playing in the highly-competitive ECAC—which saw Yale and Quinnipiac compete with one another for the national title—the sophomores will be looked at over the course of the season to provide guidance to their counterparts in the year below. This year, the Crimson will face five teams ranked in the preseason top-15, including fourth-ranked Boston College on November 20.

“The biggest thing for us as sophomores this year is to take more of a leadership role,” Vesey said. “A lot of our lineup is going to be freshmen and sophomores, so I think they look up to us a little bit and it’s our job to lead by example and show them the ropes.”

While this year will see the return to the team of juniors Patrick McNally, Steve Michalek, and Max Everson, having the sophomores take on such leadership responsibility will be crucial for a Harvard team that hopes for its freshmen to make an immediate impact on the ice. After all, it never hurts to be able to lead by example, and last year’s rookies are no strangers to high expectations.

“Hopefully a lot of our freshmen will be able to step in right away,” Criscuolo said. “Our class was able to do that a little bit last year. The majority of guys will be freshmen and sophomores, so I think we’re going to have a lot of pressure on us early to produce.”

With the loss of All-American captain Danny Biega ‘13 on defense and perpetual scoring threat Marshall Everson ‘13 on offense, Harvard will be looking to its sophomores to capitalize on the gains made last season and bring the Crimson, which is currently ranked 6th and 10th in the ECAC preseason coaches’ and media polls, respectively, out of the bottom half of the conference standings.

“On any given night last year you could come to see a game and see Jimmy Vesey be our best player, or other nights see Kyle Criscuolo be our best player,” Donato said. “Brian Hart also had moments where he was very good. That group really is the core of what we’re trying to do and where we’re headed as a program, and I think those three guys in particular have a chance to make a large impact this year.”