However, Crowley has not led an Olympic side into battle as a coach. Stone has, which gives her a store of firsthand anecdotes to draw from.

“Fear can be paralyzing,” Stone said. “We’re going to do our best to try to limit distractions so that our kids can be at their best when their best is needed. Certainly, it’s a big stage for all the athletes involved in thus tournament, [and] it should be exciting.”

Of course, the Crimson roster includes more than three players and a coach. There are nearly two dozen skaters without Olympic experience on Harvard, which causes the question of pressure to resurface.

Again, Crimson team members respond by citing past performances. Even if Harvard players have not participated in an international tournament on the scale of the Sochi Olympics, they have played in other serious matches—prep school championships, state championships, age-specific national team games, and the like.

“All of our kids have had those experiences in different ways,” Stone said. “Players coming into all of our programs are pretty seasoned, and they are winners.”

In the 2014-15 campaign alone, the Crimson has played in enough elimination games to give a foretaste of the intensity of the Frozen Four.

In mid-February, Harvard defeated BC for the Beanpot title. Two weeks ago, the Crimson again pulled out an elimination game victory, this one over Cornell, to claim the ECAC championship. In both games, freshman forward Karly Heffernan scored a goal, and other young players contributed key minutes.

“Our freshmen aren’t playing like freshmen,” senior forward Samantha Reber said. “They go out there like they’ve been here for years, which makes everyone really fun to play with.”

Olympic experience or not, playoff experience or not, all past storylines should fall away as soon as Friday’s match gets underway. That’s the beauty of playoff hockey—nothing matters except for the 60 minutes on the ice.

“I’ve never been in the Frozen Four, so I’m just trying to take it one game at a time,” Picard said. “I’m excited to play with this team…. What happened a year ago doesn’t mean anything for tomorrow.”

—Staff writer Sam Danello can be reached at sdanello@college.harvard.edu.