Harvard entered the season in a curious position as the team had more players on its roster who had been drafted by NHL teams than any other college.[1] The high level of talent on the team placed the Crimson on the national radar and had the team sitting 11th in both preseason polls.[2] Aside from the prospect potential, Harvard's recent trip to the NCAA tournament and the return of most of its key players put tremendous expectations on the program.
Once their season got underway, Harvard looked to be exceeding any predictions when the team started out 7–0. The offense, led by OlympianSean Farrell, was firing on all cylinders while the defensive effort was being spearheaded by All-American Henry Thrun. In goal the team was a little less certain, rotating between three different netminders early in the year. coach Donato eventually settled on senior Mitchell Gibson but also had a capable backup in Derek Mullahy. The team ran into a bit of a speed bump on its first real road trip, dropping a weekend to Michigan, and then bookended its winter break with a pair of splits.
The losses caused Harvard's ranking to slip a bit but it was still a top-10 team and in a guaranteed tournament position when the Crimson began the second half of its season. Harvard was well positioned to make a run for a regular season title, however, losing both matches to league-leading Quinnipiac ended that hope. In spite of that disappointment, Harvard was still heading for a 2nd-place finish when they paused their conference slate for the Beanpot in early February. With seconds remaining in overtime, the Crimson knocked off Boston College and advanced to their first title game in 6 years. For the first time in the 70-year history of the event, neither BC nor BU made the final Harvard was met by Northeastern.[3] The two teams fought a close game with the Huskies taking a lead in the second before a pair of goals from Matthew Coronato staked Harvard to a lead. NU tied the game early in the third and both teams battled to get the next goal. The game headed into overtime and, after a 5-minute 3-on-3, was sent to a shootout. Because the NCAA had denied the Beanpot's waiver to continue using playoff overtime rules in 2021, this was the first time the tournament had ended with a shootout.[4] Unfortunately for Harvard, Devon Levi stopped every Crimson shot and won the championship for Northeastern.
Harvard swept the rest of its schedule to end the regular season #7 in the polls and, more importantly, well inside the top ten for the PairWise rankings. With their lofty position, Harvard was guaranteed to make the NCAA tournament no matter what happened in the conference postseason but that didn't stop the Crimson from trying to repeat as league champions. The Crimson began their run with a pair of dominating performances against Princeton with the team succeeding in all phases of the game. Their semifinal match with Cornell proved to a much tougher challenge as the two rivals fought a defensive struggle that resulted in 0 goals during regulation. Harvard continued to plug away in overtime and Alex Laferriere's 21st goal of the year sent the Crimson to the title game. Despite being a heavy favorite over Colgate, Harvard found themselves down by a pair goin into the second period. Henry Thrun cut the lead in half but the Raiders regained the 2-goal edge just a few minutes later. In the third, Coronato's 20th on the power play put the Crimson back within a goal but that was all they could get and Harvard lost out on the championship.
The defeat caused Harvard to drop in the rankings slightly but it still left them with a #2 seed for the NCAA tournament. They were placed opposite Ohio State, who had been hit-or-miss over the previous few months, and were the favorites to win the game. However, once the puck dropped, nothing went right for the Crimson. Even with 15 NHL draft picks, Harvard's offense was unable to get anything going and managed just 3 shots in the first period. The defense, meanwhile, was under constant attack from the Buckeyes. Gibson did well to limit the damage to 2 goals after 20 minutes and kept his team in the game. While they needed a complete change in the second, all Harvard got was more of the same. The Crimson was outshot 5–17 and the withering attack was too much for Gibson. Ohio State broke through with 5 goals in the middle frame while Harvard was still scoreless. With the game essentially over, Ohio State relented on their pressure and were content to play defense for the final 20 minutes. The extra room gave Harvard the chance to actually generate some chances but, with the game's outcome already decided, that was only for pride. John Farinacci finally got Harvard on the board with under 4 minutes to play and avoid a historical loss but that was about the only silver lining in an otherwise terribly cloudy game.[5]
