It helped that Dempsey spent a good chunk of the year playing alongside juniors Kate Buesser and Ryabkina, who seamlessly stepped into the role of offensive leaders.

After returning from a dislocated knee on Nov. 25, Ryabkina made the most of her abbreviated season by scoring 15 goals in her 24 games—including a four-game outburst in the Beanpot opener that reminded fans of the winger’s mentor, two-time Olympian Sarah Vaillancourt ’08-’09.

Buesser, on the other hand, came into her own in her third season, quietly scoring 40 points as she came up in the clutch time and time again.

With an experienced junior class that includes Ryabkina, Buesser, and blueliner Leanna Coskren ready to step up and lead a team full of potential next season, the future of Crimson hockey looks bright.

But the efforts of this year's seniors in helping Harvard reach this point cannot be undervalued. Co-captains Kathryn Farni and Cori Bassett, along with classmates Kessler, Randi Griffin, and Anna McDonald, took a team that could have made excuses and turned it into a squad that perhaps exceeded expectations.

“We just have to play the best we can with the cards we’re dealt,” Farni said after the Cornell game. “There were definitely points in the season where we struggled with the adversity that we had, and I think we tried our best to regroup and were focused on what happens on the ice and what was under our control.”

That’s exactly what the senior class did, leading by example as Bassett, Farni, Griffin, and McDonald each came up with her highest point total in a Crimson uniform. Kessler, meanwhile, finishes her career as the all-time Harvard leader in wins and shutouts while holding the NCAA career mark for save percentage (.941).

Of course, it helps when you have the NCAA’s all-time winningest coach behind the bench—which is what Katey Stone became with her squad’s 5-1 win in the ECAC tournament opener. Now the only thing missing from Stone’s illustrious trophy case is an NCAA title.

With the madness of women’s hockey over for this March, the Crimson has a lot to smile about: a Beanpot crown, a return to the national tournament, and a strong foundation for next season. Although it won’t lace up the skates until October, the beginning of Harvard’s next title run doesn’t seem so far away.

—Staff writer Kate Leist can be reached at kleist@fas.harvard.edu.