What was the high point for the Harvard men’s hockey team this year?

“Good question,” responded rising junior forward and incoming co-captain Kyle Criscuolo. “Um, I’ll have to come back to that one.”

Criscuolo’s hesitation is understandable. The Crimson’s 2013-2014 campaign, which ended in a two-game sweep by Yale in the first round of the ECAC tournament, offered few rivalry victories or memorable upsets.

After placing last in the conference for the first time in program history last year, Harvard finished just one spot better this season, with the same number of wins in the conference (six) and overall (10).

“I think it was just a tough year,” Criscuolo said. “We didn’t score many goals, and that kind of hurt us with a lot of freshmen.”

New excitement surrounded the Crimson program as coach Ted Donato ’91 began his 10th season behind the bench. Harvard welcomed a top-tier recruiting class, promoted a special game with Yale, and prepared for renovations on its rink.

Yet just like the current construction on the Bright-Landry Hockey Center, Donato’s rebuilding plan is not complete.

“I thought that our commitment to defense and our compete-level and effort was there,” Donato said. “I think that we just were an exceptionally young team, and we struggled to score goals.”

Freshman centers Sean Malone and Alexander Kerfoot stepped in  to replace Alex Fallstrom ’13 and Luke Greiner ’13 on the team’s top two lines, where the rookies joined classmate Luke Esposito and sophomores Jimmy Vesey, Brian Hart, and Criscuolo.

Sophomore defensemen Max Everson and Patrick McNally, meanwhile, returned from year-long hiatuses as the Crimson tried to address the graduation of All-American Danny Biega ’13.

On offense, the growing pains were evident. The Crimson averaged 2.23 goals per game—the eighth-lowest in Division I—and Harvard blue-liners combined for only four goals.

Multiple injuries and roster withdrawals placed extra responsibility on the Crimson’s underclassmen as the season progressed. Harvard ran three full lines of freshmen and sophomores for several games in the middle of the season.

Donato feels that the lack of veteran experience on the team’s top lines created a challenging dynamic.

“I think there was, at times, a little bit of a lack of cohesion in leadership throughout the group,” Donato said.

After a promising start that included a comeback tie on the road and a shutout win at home against Rensselaer, Harvard would not string together a pair of back-to-back wins until early February.

In ECAC play, the Crimson compensated partly for its struggles on offense with a highly efficient penalty killing unit and strong goaltending from senior Raphael Girard and sophomore Steve Michalek.

Harvard’s lack of experience, however, proved costly in tight matchups. All eight of the Crimson’s one-goal losses this season came against conference opponents.

“We started out pretty well, and then we were kind of inconsistent,” Criscuolo said. “We didn’t play a full 60 minutes for a lot of the games, I think.”

Harvard and Yale added important chapters to their rivalry this year. On Jan. 11, the Bulldogs cruised to a 5-1 win over Harvard in the first Rivalry On Ice game at Madison Square Garden.

In the first round of the postseason, Yale shut out the Crimson, 4-0, in game one and took game two, 2-1, in a comeback win with two goals 38 seconds apart.

“I think [our games against Yale] will certainly be a point of emphasis next year,” Donato said. “We’d love to return the favor to Yale.”

By game two, Harvard was broken down. Injuries to Esposito, Kerfoot, and other forwards forced the Crimson to fill its fourth line with defensemen. All told, 10 players who were listed on the Crimson’s roster at the beginning of the season were inactive by the closing contest.

In the final weeks of the regular season, however, the team showed signs of progress. In February, the Crimson put together its only winning streak of the season.

During the stretch, the team’s young stars led the way. Vesey scored his league-leading fifth game-winning goal with an overtime clincher at Clarkson on Feb. 14. Meanwhile, Malone, who led the team with 14 assists, registered a five-game point streak.

The coming months will test the 2013-2014 campaign’s legacy as a rebuilding year. Only then will Crimson fans know if the foundation has been set.

“Overall, I think the season had its ups and downs, and it was a frustrating finish,” Donato said. “But I thought that our younger players really had a substantial learning experience and played a lot of important minutes for us, so I think that bodes well for us in the future.”

—Staff writer Michael D. Ledecky can be reached at mdledecky@gmail.com.