Harvard coach Mark Mazzoleni arrived two years ago with the intention of restoring Harvard hockey to its days as a national power in the 1980s and early 90s.

Thus far, everything is going according to plan,

After a year spent getting the players accustomed to his system, Mazzoleni’s team made great strides last year, meeting its goal of finishing third in the ECAC both in the regular season and the post-season tournament.

The Crimson met Mazzoleni’s stated goal of earning home ice (given to the top five in the ECAC) for the first round of the playoffs. After a two-game sweep of Yale at Bright Hockey Center, Harvard finished third in the ECAC tournament, losing to nemesis Cornell but beating Dartmouth in the consolation game.

Defeating the Big Green gave Harvard its first winning season since 1995.

The outlook is even brighter this season, as the Crimson returns almost all of its frontline and defensive talent.

Thus it is not surprising that this year’s team has set the bar even higher.

“We’ve been talking a lot about winning the league and making the NCAA tournament,” sophomore defenseman Kenny Smith said.

Harvard has done neither since 1994.

The college hockey community has begun to take notice of Harvard’s resurgence under Mazzoleni. The Crimson was picked to finish first in the league by ECAC coaches and second by the media.

But the biggest surprise has been the attention the Crimson has received nationally. Harvard was ranked eighth in a USA Today-American Hockey Magazine poll—highest of all four Boston teams, including defending national champion Boston College.

But Harvard players are not buying into the hype.

“The polls are meaningless right now,” Smith said. “A team this young with this much inexperience doesn’t deserve to be put up that high.”

In the short term, Harvard will settle for maintaining a high level of effort and intensity in each game.

“When teams get done playing us, we want them to say ‘that’s the hardest working team we’ve played against,’” sophomore forward Tyler Kolarik said.