This year was supposed to be different.

After four straight non-winning seasons, expectations of success had returned for the Harvard men's hockey team (14-16-2, 8-12-2 ECAC).

Riding high off a strong performance at Lake Placid the previous year and returning all its major players, head coach Ronn Tomassoni was expected to guide the program back to ECAC prominence.

The preseason coaches poll placed the Crimson in third, and for two months of the year, Harvard validated its prognosticators, posting an 8-4-1 record through January and February--good for third-best in the conference.

But the only historic moment the Crimson could add to the 10-year anniversary of its National Championship was a 5-1 home loss on Dec. 5 to St. Lawrence, a defeat that capped an 0-8-1 conference start, 2-8-1 overall, worst in school history.

Despite a valiant finish, RPI bounced Harvard from the playoffs in the first round to end yet another disappointing season.

"There were positives in the year," said Captain-elect Trevor Allman. "But we're gonna judge success by making it to Lake Placid, and we didn't."

The fifth straight sub-par year meant the end of the Tomassoni era. The man who was head coach for the past nine seasons resigned on May 14.

This year was supposed to be different.

The Crimson hosted the season opener Friday night, Nov. 6, against Brown. After a strong first period, Bear netminder Scott Stirling saw only 13 shots the rest of the night in a 4-1 defeat. The team lacked energy, lines looked out of sync, and the defense became increasingly porous.

What was chalked up to first game kinks back then soon became a trend.

Over its first 11 games, the Crimson topped the three-goal mark for a game just three times. While the offense kept its lamp dark, the defense practically gave the goal judge RSI.

During one brutal stretch, Harvard dropped a 7-2 decision versus Cornell on Nov. 13 and lost 6-3 the next day to Colgate. It showed some heart the next Friday in losing only 3-2 at Princeton, but then nearly let Yale outscore its football counterparts on the day of The Game, falling 7-1.

By the end of 11-game opening stretch, junior goaltender J.R. Prestifilippo's GAA hovered around five.

"As a team, we just didn't play well," said senior forward Rob Millar. "We were underachieving and everyone knew it."